Families LEAD

Families LEAD is a collaborative project of the Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities, MS Parent Training & Information (MSPTI) Center, Mississippi Center for Advanced Medicine (MCAM) with Dr. Victoria Kivlan, Pediatric Audiologist as the Director of this initiative, and Toni Hollingsworth, Project Director of the Mississippi Hearing-Vision Project (MH-VP).

The project is funded by a subgrant from the Mississippi State Department of Health. The purpose of the project is to recruit and train family members of children/youth with disabilities and special healthcare needs to become family leaders, positive advocates, peer-to-peer supporters and family trainers across the state.

Curriculum will include:

• What is Advocacy?
• Parenting a Child with a Disability
• Skills for Effective Advocacy
• Communication and Collaboration
• Dispute Resolution

Families LEAD has three goals:

• Recruit and train family members of children/youth with disabilities and special healthcare needs as Positive Advocates, Peer-to-Peer Mentors, Family Trainers, and/or Family Leaders across the state.
• Provide technical assistance to ten trained Peer-to-Peer Mentors who provide support to matched families across the state.
• Support Family Leaders, Family Trainers, and Peer-to-Peer Mentors to engage in leadership positions locally, regionally, and/or at the state level.

Families LEAD will achieve its goals by using a three-tier process that trains families to become effective advocates, serve on groups, and become leaders.

The first tier of training will be the Families LEAD Advocacy Academy held in January. The second tier will be Serving on Groups held in March. And the third tier will be Leading by Convening held in April.

For more information about Families LEAD or how to register for upcoming Advocacy Academies, call (601) 969-0601 or email Brittany Greer, MSCCD Project Support Coordinator, at brittany@mspti.org.

Lunch will be provided

Register here >>