|
Bringing Family Lived Experience To You
September 1st, 2025 | Volume 3, Issue 11
| | |
|
NFF News and Highlights
Register for the 2025 NFF Conference
Sponsor the 2025 NFF Conference
Full Conference Schedule
Virtual, November 3rd, 5th, 7th, 2025
Legislative & Advocacy News
State Mental Health Agency Report Released
Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act of 2025 (H.R.4619)
Medicaid Bump Act (H.R.4745, S.2410)
Legislative and Advocacy Facebook page
September Advocacy Resources
2025 Recovery Month
Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
988 Day
Events and Resources
SAMHSA & ESMI-TTA's Partnering with Crisis Services in Early Serious Mental Illness Programs
September 3rd, 12:00 p.m. ET
CSG Justice Center's Beyond Recidivism: A New Era of Measuring Reentry Success
September 4th, 2:00 p.m. ET
September 8th, 5:00 p.m. ET
September 8th, 8:00 p.m. ET
National Empowerment Center's A Holistic Approach to Collegiate Recovery
September 10th, 2:00 p.m. ET
The National Council's Recovery Ready, Set, Go!
September 16th, 2:00 p.m. ET
CARS' So You Want to Be a Peer Supervisor: Introduction to Supervisory Skills
September 17th, 2:00 p.m. ET
Mobilize Recovery's Campus Surge Event Series
August 31st-November 10th
The National Council's Recovery-ready Families
SAMHSA Taking Care: Promoting Recovery and Behavioral Health Providers
ABCD's Fentanyl: What You Need to Know
Flourishing Families Workshop Series
October 9th-November 13th
| |  | |
Note from the
Executive Director
NFF Continues Its Legacy of Advocacy
As many of you are aware, the National Family Support Technical Assistance Center will be sunsetting on September 30th. What an amazing opportunity this has been! While we wish that SAMHSA had continued this funding, please know that the National Federation of Families will continue to stand strong in our commitment to families whose children, of all ages, are navigating mental health and substance use challenges. This work, including our shared work—is not ending. It’s evolving. As the only national advocacy organization that supports these families, we know this work isn’t just about services, it’s about listening, about partnering, and about co-creating pathways to success. Our affiliates and partners serve as our “boots on the ground” in these efforts and we are endlessly grateful for these partnerships.
NFF is focused on working closely with Secretary Kennedy and the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) to ensure that there is a clear path for our families and their children to be included in the MAHA vision. We are hopeful that the integration of mental and physical health will result in increasingly positive outcomes.
We are actively working to identify options for funding to support the activities and types of resources NFSTAC has created. The NFSTAC website will be migrating to the NFF website, along with all online training on our HealtheKnowledge learning management system, so please do continue to visit us and reach out to www.ffcmh.org. We will announce future opportunities as they are developed.
No matter what changes may come, families will continue to dream, to seek, and to grow. And we, at the National Federation of Families, will continue to support all families and to ensure that no family walks alone.
Thank you for being part of this moment and part of this mission. We’re just getting started.
Thank you all.
| Lynda Gargan, PhD – NFF Executive Director/ NFSTAC Principal Investigator | Gail M. Cormier, MS – NFSTAC Project Director | | Register for and Sponsor NFF's 36th Annual Conference | | | |
Join us virtually for the National Federation of Families' 36th Annual Conference on November 3rd, 5th, and 7th! If you’ve never experienced our conference before, this is the year to join us!
The NFF Annual Conference is a one-of-a-kind event that brings together families, caregivers, family peers, community leaders, providers, advocates, and policymakers from across the country. Together, we explore the most pressing issues impacting families and the mental health and well-being of their loved ones—all through the lens of a family-driven approach.
Reserve your spot by registering as a virtual attendee below. Show your support for the family peer workforce while spreading the word about the work your organization does by sponsoring our virtual conference!
| | |
We have 55 presenters from 23 states and Canada and 32 organizations that will share professional expertise, lessons from the field, and lived experience in our 6 focus areas:
- Fatherhood Initiatives
- Supporting Families and their Loved Ones Through the Lifespan
- Supporting families with Co-occurring Disorders
- Lessons from the Field
- Youth Workforce Development / Emerging Youth and Young Adult Leaders
- Workforce Development
| | We are thrilled to kick off our Virtual Conference with an inspiring Opening Plenary session, “Using to Live, Living to Die,” featuring Susan Nyamora, Executive Director of the South Florida Wellness Network. Susan’s story is one of courage, resilience, and transformation. After nearly losing her children to the grip of substance use, she found the strength to recover and rebuild her life. Today, she leads a thriving nonprofit dedicated to helping others on their own recovery journeys. Her powerful message of hope and healing is sure to move, motivate, and inspire families, family leaders, and the family support workforce. This will set the tone for an unforgettable event. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Susan’s remarkable journey firsthand—register now and be part of the conversation. Click above to watch the video at NBC Miami to learn more about Susan's story. | | |
The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute (NRI) has released six new in-depth reports analyzing how state mental health agencies (SMHAs) are operating. The snapshots cover everything from the overall structure and use of SMHAs to how they respond to crisis situations and measure crisis system outcomes. More reports are expected to be released throughout the month.
| | |
The STARR Coalition has opened a policy tracker and action center to keep up to date about and advocate for mental health research policies that support individuals and families with lived experience. Check in for news about the latest legislative policies related to mental health research.
| | |
Medicaid Bump Act (H.R.4745, S.2410)
Representative Paul Tonko (D-NY), Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) reintroduced the Medicaid Bump Act in both the House and the Senate on July 23, 2025. The bill would increase the Medicaid federal matching rate for mental health and substance use disorder services in order to address one of the biggest barriers to provider participation in the Medicaid program. NFF endorsed this legislation.
| | |
Follow our Legislative and Advocacy Facebook page and use the data and facts shared there in concert with your advocacy skills to represent the voice of families where you live. Some highlights shared this month include:
| | September Advocacy Campaigns |
| | |
National Recovery Month
SAMHSA defines the four major dimensions of recovery as health, home, community, and purpose—together they are the building blocks that support a person's journey to recovery. Health includes well-being and its role in recovery. Home shows how safe, stable living environments aid recovery from mental health and/or substance use challenges. Community is how a sense of belonging supports their recovery journey, while a sense of Purpose drives change and fosters resilience.
Resiliency is also a building block for families in recovery. Last year we joined with SAMHSA's Office of Recovery for "Nothing About Us Without Us: Families Supporting Recovery" to hear directly from family members about their experiences with loved ones. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution for every family, SAMHSA offers multiple resources for families. Our NFF Affiliates and partners provide direct support to unique families.
Let's celebrate the millions of people in recovery, their loved ones, and allies with SAMHSA's 2025 Recovery Month toolkit with free resources, graphics, and fact-based content to share.
| | |
Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
September is also a time to remember those we have lost to suicide, the millions more who have experienced suicidal thoughts, and to support their families and communities. It is also a time to uplift the voices of those with lived experience plus provide resources and information that can prevent suicide. Download SAMHSA's Suicide Prevention Awareness Month Toolkit and share resources and messages of hope and support with your communities and networks.
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) also offers excellent resources, including the Voices of Lived Experience video series featuring people who helped build the suicide-centered lived experience movement.
| | |
988 Day
"Compassionate Help. Anytime. Anywhere". This year's theme conveys the heart of what 988 is all about— empathy, accessibility, and reliability.
Learn the facts about 988 and how they provide compassionate care accessible to anyone with the 988 Day Toolkit. Created by Vibrant Emotional Health and the Crisis Systems Response TAC, you'll find fact sheets, digital and print graphics, videos, flyers, and social media assets. Be sure to use the hashtag #988Day to see your social media posts September 9th on their social media wall!
| | | | | |
The National Council on Mental Wellbeing's Recovery-ready Families
Substance use disorder (SUD) reaches far beyond the individual. It can affect their family's daily life, emotional health, roles and relationships. While families often feel powerless, they can also be essential to recovery.
The National Council's new framework, developed with Facing Fentanyl, shares how families can become a powerful force to change the course of SUD when they are informed, prepared, and supported.
This framework offers 11 core principles guided by ethical foundations—each recognizing that every family’s journey is different and that the path to recovery and stability is not a straight line.
| | |
SAMHSA's
Taking Care - Promoting Recovery and Behavioral Health Providers
Self-care is critical to ensure well-being for the family peer workforce and others in behavioral health services. Both individuals and organizations have a role to play in promoting selfcare and overall well-being.
SAMHSA's new fact sheet explains the reasoning behind the need for provider self-care. When behavioral health providers support others on their path to recovery and well-being, their own work and other challenges can result in providers reducing their focus on their own self-care needs. Discover tips for checking in on yourself plus resources on Compassion Fatigue, Trauma, Burnout, Stress, and more.
| | |
The ABCD Study is the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the US. This consortium researches and disseminates critical facts on fentanyl risks, counterfeit pills, safety tips for youth and families, and much more. They've just released a new infographic on what we need to know about fentanyl and its risks.
| | | |
| |
Flourishing Families Workshop Series
Flourishing Families' workshop series is a highly interactive weekly, 2-hour educational class offered to families by Boston University's Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation. In this workshop series, you will learn and practice strategies to build positive relationships with young adults. Topics for these sessions include personal and family values, the power of empathy and responding, resource coordination, tools to engage in difficult conversations and upholding boundaries, and shifting away from shame and blame. The Fall series runs from October 9th-November 13th. Registration is required.
| | | | |
