Parent peer support, where one parent who has challenges with their child supports another parent on the same journey, makes a tremendous difference in the lives of families. It gives families hope, helps them feel less alone and assists them in finding real-world solutions.
The Mississippi Department of Mental Health certifies parent peer supporters to work at agencies that the department credentials. Families as Allies facilitates the department’s parent-peer support training. Training lasts one week and is virtual. The next training is July 17 – 21, 2023. The deadline to apply for this training is June 19, 2023. You will need to submit the application packet by postal mail and have some forms notarized, so please keep those factors in mind to allow for timely submission. There is no cost for the application process or the training.
We encourage any parent or caregiver interested in parent peer support to take the training. (A caregiver is someone other than a parent, such as a foster parent or extended family member, who has raised or is raising a child.) In addition to preparing parent peer supporters to work in agencies certified by the Department of Mental Health, the training is appropriate for any parent who wants to provide parent-to-parent support in other systems such as health care, juvenile justice and child welfare. The training is also suitable for parents and caregivers interested in working for Families as Allies. We are building our pool of contractual workers.
We currently have funds to pay stipends to parents who are or have been involved in the youth court system and are interested in learning to do parent peer support in that system. Parents, youth court judges, and administrators can contact us at 601-355-0915 or info@faams.org to learn more.
We encourage anyone who works with families to share this training opportunity with those families. Families who are strong advocates for their children are often good candidates to become parent peer supporters. This electronic brochure explains parent peer support and lists future training dates. We can also send you or your organization hard copies of the brochure to share with families.
We are in the process of planning several continuing education activities for parent peer supporters. Watch our newsletter, Facebook page and website for updates!
Our next virtual Conversation for Anyone Who Supervises or Works with Peer Parent Peer Supporters is June 29 at 1:30 p.m. Please also check out the parent peer support section on our website’s resource page.
