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Dear PPAL Friends and Supporters,
Summer is here and we are moving. Both offices will be staying in Boston and Worcester but we have new addresses. As I pack things into boxes I've found a few pictures of past events and people who played important roles. Stay tuned -- we may start a throw back Thursday tradition on our facebook page. Hope you have liked our page, but if not, take a minute and do so! Like our Facebook page here.
We are back to blog posts twice a month and led June off with
" Herbal remedies, psychiatric medication and what works"
which explores the difference between mental health and mental illness. I've thought a lot about that over the years, watching my son accept treatment but pursue wellness. This was followed up by a
wonderful post by Meri Viano called,
"My sibling journey, my parent journey", who writes about how your childhood journey matters to your parent journey. Even more, Meri says our stories matter and we should celebrate them.
Haven't read them all? Click on a title to catch up.
Warm Regards,
Lisa Lambert, Executive Director
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PPAL'S 5TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE & CELEBRATION-May 29, 2015
PPAL's 5th Annual Conference & Celebration was held at the Best Western Royal Plaza in Marlboro, MA on Friday, May 29. We were at capacity with a full house of attendees, parents, providers and youth. Our workshops were well-attended and the exhibitor hall was full of terrific organizations and great resources.
Victoria Costello (pictured right, above) author of "A Lethal Inheritance:A Mother Uncovers the Science Behind Three Generations of Mental Illness," set the tone of our conference as our keynote speaker. She has made a free downloadable version of her talk praising the "Massachusetts model" and specifically to the other members of her tribe which is available here.
After her presentation, attendees went to one of six morning workshops before our awards luncheon. There were also six afternoon breakout sessions.
PPAL congratulates our awardees
!
- Lifetime Achievement in Advocacy Award: Chip Wilder
- Children's Mental Health Champion Award: Karen Darcy
- Excellence in Family Leadership Award: Ann Berube
- Community Partnership Award: NFI Massachusetts
- Changing Lives Award: Ron Ancrum, Nurtury Learning Lab
- Excellence in Youth Peer Advocacy Award: Alison Hunt
- Excellence in Youth Leadership Award:
- Lori Gaskin
- Lev Goldman
- Samuel Spillane
- Patricia Woodbury
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PPAL BOARD MEMBER AND DAUGHTER
REPRESENT FOR MENTAL HEALTH
Local CBS affiliate, WBZ4 - Boston, reached out to PPAL for direction and information for its series on mental health. Lisa
reached out to PPAL Board member Pam Sager who was featured along with her daughter in this segment. Pam and Arielle gave voice to the struggles children and their families experience dealing with mental health challenges.
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PPAL'S YOUTH VOICE IN NATIONAL PLAN
Now Is the Time is the President's plan to increase mental health services in the wake of recent shootings and other violence. Now Is The Time (NITT) includes Project Aware which help funds Mental Health First Aid which trains school staff and other adults to detect and respond to mental health concerns in children and young adults. NITT also includes Healthy Transitions, which provides funding to states to improve access to care for youth and young adults. Massachusetts has a Healthy Transitions grant focused on Lawrence and Haverhill. Two PPAL staff are working with the NITT initiative on a national level. Chandra Watts, Lead Peer Support Specialist, is a member of the NITT-TA Work Group, which was created to add a level of national youth voice to the work SAMHSA is doing. The NITT-TA center is convening the group to support Project Aware grant sites (school based initiatives utilizing Mental Health First Aid training) and Healthy Transition sites (focus on improving services and supports for transition aged youth). Young adults in this group will be providing technical assistance and feedback. Lisa Lambert, PPAL's Executive Director, has worked with other members of the NITT-TA center to create a webinar, held earlier this month, called Game Change: Focus on Families. This webinar began a conversation about the unique role that parents have when their children transition to adulthood and explored what we should call this role: adult ally? Adult supporter? Or just parent?
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PPAL proudly highlighted restorative justice conversation at our 2015 conference and participants took note and responded. One wrote, "Finally we are discussing not locking up youth but treating them."
Conversations continue to bring education, awareness and forward progress in this project. Family support specialists highlighted efforts on dually-involved youth and the extra care sometimes needed to address their issues.
Justice Policy Institute featured an article entitled, "Keep Kids Out of Handcuffs," and Meri Viano, PPAL's Director of Community Outreach and Partnerships is featured in the article you can read here. PPAL prepares for an education series in southeast Massachusetts with detention staff, court clinic staff, and directors. The discussion will highlight family involvement, engagement, and how to listen to families. We look forward to working together with Juvenile Justice partners to include more of the family perspective and voice.
Also, over one hundred police commanders in Massachusetts were offered a link to the Police Pocket Guide by Lydsey Heffernan through JDAI training. Copies of the Police Pocket guide are available through PPAL and an abbreviated version can be downloaded at PPAL.net.
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SAHELI SABHA, ISLAM AND PSYCHOLOGY, CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND PPAL'S THERE
PPAL's Outreach Coordinator Norma P. Mora and Multicultural Outreach Specialist, Hannah Martinez continue to expand the reach of our organization to Massachusetts families who may need our services. In the last month they have made new contacts and fostered potential relationships with several Boston-area intercultural agencies and presentations.
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Third on left, Hannah Martinez, third on right, Norma Mora.
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They both met with Ms. Vandana Sharma -South Shore Coordinator from Saheli Sabha - Support and Friendship for South Asian Women and Families. This organization is dedicated to supporting South Asian women and families in Greater Boston. Renu Tewarie, the Principal of read more...
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PPAL'S NEW LEGAL GUIDE IS OUT
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 When a child transitions to adulthood, parents wonder about their new role. Until now, parents have done most of the decision-making without knowing their options, their legal role or where to seek help.
This groundbreaking guide, Moving to Young Adult Life: A Legal Guide for Parents of Youth with Mental Health Needs, covers topics such as financial decisions, health care options, guardianship and transition from special education..
You can download our new guide here.
Or, you can order hard copies of it for $6. The order form is downloadable here.
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WHICH CAME FIRST:
ADDICTION OR MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS?
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), approximately 50 percent of individuals with severe mental health disorders are affected by substance abuse. NAMI also estimates that 29 percent of all people diagnosed as mentally ill abuse alcohol or other drugs. Often it is impossible to say which problem came first. Cases exist where a person may experience depression from a traumatic childhood and turn to drugs to cope, developing an addiction. Read more...
LEARN TO COPE + CHANNEL 5 is also featured in the read more link and includes a segment about state families coping with the increasing heroin epidemic which PPAL's Jessica Childs participated in.
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There is a lack of clarity about HIPAA rules, especially when a young adult child is living at home. Parents struggle to get simple information they need and young adults may be advised that they should think hard before sharing health information. Providers often believe that there can be no communication with other family members even though US Department of Health and Human Services issued a guide that clarifies this. To read the guide click here.
Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA) has filed a bill to increase the clarity on HIPAA privacy rules and PPAL is a formal supporter. Called The Including Families in Mental Health Recovery Act,
the bill formalizes US HHS guidelines and clarifies what information can be shared. Congresswoman Matsui believes that the root cause of the confusion that prevents communication, and sometimes, access to care is not HIPAA. It's the lack of awareness of what is and what isn't allowed under the law.
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WHAT FAMILIES ARE SAYING:
Most of the calls that come in to PPAL requesting help or advice around advocacy are fielded by our Family Support Specialists. Kristen Solaras is one of our team members and says as we turn the corner from the school year into summer break, Special Education doesn't end. It continues to be the highest level of parent support requested by families, especially with a need for year round programming and consistency in routine. Maintaining routines in the summer can be especially challenging. "Many parents have not even thought about this issue until it comes upon us," she said and added, "Summer programming needs to begin months before school dismisses for the year."
PPAL continues to support children who have had multiple hospitalizations. Many times, IEP eligibility and development comes as an emergency effort as their mental health needs emerge. We are seeing this as an ongoing support need as well. We ask parents and support professionals to assist in ensuring that they have made every effort to get the school district involved in hospital discharge planning as soon as possible.
PPAL would also like to take the time to recognize Alina Kantor-Nir from Worcester Community Legal Aid for her dedication and support of PPAL families whose children are having extraordinary special educational concerns.We truly appreciate her work.
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FIND TRAINING AND
SUPPORT IN JULY!
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DATE
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TIME
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LOCATION
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TOPIC
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| Wednesdays, July 7,21 |
6pm-8pm |
Lawrence Public Library
51 Lawrence St.
Lawrence, MA 01830 |
Transitional Age Youth Parent Support Group |
| Every Friday |
6pm-8pm
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Lynn YMCA
20 Neptune Blvd.
Lynn, MA
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Parent support
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on hiatus in July/August resume Sept.
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6pm-8pm
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In Sync Communication Ctr. 1 Beverly Drive, Sterling |
Transitin Age Youth Parent Support Group |
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Thursdays, July 9, 23
on hiatus August
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6pm-8pm |
PPAL - Worcester
40 Southbridge Street, Suite 310
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Moving Forward:
Transition Planning
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| Thursdays, July 9, 23 |
5:30p-7:30p |
PPAL - Worcester
40 Southbridge Street, Suite 310
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Parent/Caregiver Support Group
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Tuesdays, July 7, 21
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5:30p-7pm
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PPAL/Bellingham Public Library - Children's Program Room 100 Blackstone St.
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Parent/Caregiver Support Group
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 ...and Family Integration Specialist Beth Pond couldn't be more relieved! As of July 1, both Boston and Worcester PPAL offices have moved. We're still in the same zip codes and we've kept the same phone numbers.
| BOSTON Office |
WORCESTER Office
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| 15 Court Square Suite 660 |
40 Southbridge St. Suite 310 |
| Boston, MA 02108 |
Worcester, MA 01608 |
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We're now looking for Family Support Specialists as paid consultants in the Northeast and Worcester areas. While it is not necessary to have lived experience in juvenile justice, eligible consultants must have a child with mental health needs.
A part-time Data Base Specialist position is also open. Full job descriptions of both positions will be listed after July 1 on either Craigslist or Idealist or both. Please contact either PPAL office if you're interested.
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Support PPAL through your donation today! COMECC # 700554 Combined Federal Campaign # 11595 |
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Monthly Poll
Click
here
to participate in our June 2015 poll:
For what reasons have you called the police for help?
Results from last month's poll:
What health info do you look for online?
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50%
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Doctor/therapist recommendations
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25%
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Find accurate diagnosis
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12.5%
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Medication Info
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12.5%
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Alternative treatment info
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Statewide Meeting
NO
STATEWIDE MEETING IN
JULY
Coming Soon
:
Tobin Rodriguez
We return to our monthly statewide meeting in August with Tobin Rodriguez, Program Director Emergency Services at North Suffolk Mental Health, LICSW, MSW
Join Us!
Tuesday,
August 11th,
10 a.m. - noon
Networking lunch
and business meeting
to follow
Tatnuck Bookstore
Westboro, MA
NO STATEWIDE MEETING IN
JULY
Special drawing for a $15 gift certificate for Tatnuck
RSVP:
June Meeting
June 12, 2015
Karen Snyder - Court Monitor from the Children's Behavioral Health Initiative was so informative and called upon to answer so many questions, we've invited her to return in late Fall. Look for Karen Snyder again in October or November.
Please note: Trainings are limited to family members, family partners, family support specialists, parent coordinators and others in family support roles.
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Contact Us
Parent/Professional Advocacy League
WE'VE MOVED!
Statewide Office
(Boston)
15 Court Square
Suite 660
Boston, MA 02108
Toll Free: (866) 815-8122
Fax: (617) 542-7832
Email: [email protected]
Central MA Office
(Worcester)
40 Southbridge Street,
Suite 310
Worcester, MA 01608
Tel: (508)767-9725
Fax: (508)767-9727
Email: [email protected]
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