CORRECTION: An earlier version of this newsletter went out today without a correct link to our 2023 public policy properties.
We have fixed that link below.
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January, 2023
'The Voice' is Families Together in New York State's monthly newsletter with information that is important to families, and youth across the State of New York.
For further information visit our website:
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Meet Families Togethers Newest Board Member
ISAIAH SANTIAGO
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Isaiah Santiago is 18 years old and a freshman at St. John Fisher University studying Political Science. Isaiah has advocated for youth in Rochester for the past three years, fighting youth gun violence and the stigma against mental health. He founded the We Got This organization, an organization working to end gun violence by allowing youth to get involved in arts and music.
WELCOME ISAIAH!
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At the NYS Coalition for Children's Behavioral Health Conference in Saratoga, November 2022
FTNYS presented the workshop:
Family Peer Advocates as Essential Staff in Residential Interventions.
The purpose of the workshop was to focus on partnerships to integrate family voice into residential settings at all levels by hiring Family Peer Advocates (FPAs). The workshop defined Family Driven Care and the centralized role that it has in residential interventions and successful outcomes. It provided the science behind the Family Driven Care process and practice based evidence that supports the success of these principles. In short, the core belief in Family Driven Care is “that ALL families have strengths, are resilient, and deserve non-judgmental support.” Integrating Family Peer Advocates into residential settings is the most effective way to ensure that Family Voice is listened to, heard, and respected. This workshop discussed both the challenges and successes of employing FPAs. Breakout groups were created to provide the opportunity to brainstorm and share ideas. Agencies that have been successful in embracing FPAs into their residential programs shared their experience, strength, and hope as an encouragement to other programs in the process. The workshop was well received and participants stayed beyond the time allotted to continue conversations.
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Workshop presenters included:
- Nancy Craig, of Community & Systems Engagement
- Heather Tafuro, Long Island Regional Parent Advisor
- Denise Delio, SCO Parent Advocate
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Invitation to Change: Part II
February 1st, 2023
12:00PM - 4:00PM
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FANS Technical Assistance Office Hours
Multiple Dates
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FANS Basic Training
March 13, 14, 15 & 16, 2023
10:00AM-12:30PM
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Family Empowerment Month
Multiple Dates
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Save the date
2023 Annual Conference
April 30 & May 1, 2023
Registration coming soon!
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Families Together is Hiring! |
Families Together in New York State (FTNYS), in partnership with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), is seeking to employ Family Policy Advisors at the state and regional levels to assist OCFS in developing policies and procedures that promote the voice of parents throughout the child welfare system.
Family Policy Advisors are parents with personal experience in navigating the child welfare system.
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Nominate Someone Who is Great in Our State!
The planning committee for the Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day event is seeking nominations to honor individuals, communities, schools, and organizations across New York State that are making a difference in the field of children and youth mental health.
Selected honorees will be recognized at the New York State What's Great in Our State (WGIOS) celebration on May 9, 2023.
Here’s your opportunity to recognize those who are doing outstanding work!
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The deadline for nominations is February 17, 2023. |
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Family Empowerment Day Registration is LIVE! |
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Sign up today for our legislative day of action on March 21st, 2023. We will be meeting with lawmakers, making speeches on the steps of the legislative well, and marching to make sure youth and family voices are heard! |
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FTNYS's Response to Governor Hochul's State of the State Address |
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Governor Kathy Hochul delivered her first State of the State Address as the elected Governor of New York last week and set the tone for the 2023 legislative session. The full address can be viewed here.
This year, she delivers the address in a drastically different context. Last year, she ascended the Gubernatorial office after the resignation of her predecessor, still in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with extra fiscal resources from the American Rescue Act to advance her and the legislature’s spending goals. This year, her speech was marked with warnings of a looming recession, a less positive fiscal outlook, and commitments to not increasing income taxes on the wealthy this year which could help fill the gaps.
Reactions to her outlined priorities from children's mental health advocates could be summed up in a phrase: "cautiously optimistic."
Before getting into what we're cautious about, let's first provide a historical context our CEO Paige Pierce often reminds us of. There was a time when children's advocates hoped that a Governor would mention children in their speech even once. Governor Hochul spoke to the needs of children and families throughout her address and backed it up with crucial proposals to advance universal child care and crisis-level housing shortages, two key social determinants of health New York families are struggling with.
Even more cause for optimism is the considerable airtime dedicated to mental health and a commitment to spend $1 billion over 5 years. This marks a welcome departure from the past. It's also a wise one: we face a dual crisis of rising prevalence of mental health and addiction (especially for youth) and a severe lack of capacity to address those needs due to decades of underinvestment and subsequently eroded workforce.
So why caution? While $1 billion (or $1,000 million!) is great news, it's tempered by several factors.
First, it's unclear how much of this investment will be geared toward children and young people. One of the only proposals focused exclusively on children's mental health was an expansion of school-based mental health clinics which we emphasize is a great idea- but a limited one. What's more clear is that this investment is at least in part a response to the increasing visibility of homeless New Yorkers suffering from severe mental health challenges and backed up ERs, hospitals, and residential programs. Our concern is that families with young people are left out.
Second, there was no mention of a requested 8.5% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for human service agencies. For many advocates, this resembles a familiar pattern: funding for expanded programming without a workforce to staff them. Last year's 5.4% COLA was historic and she deserves all the praise for getting it done. But unfortunately, it's already been outpaced by inflation and doesn't make up for the nearly $500M the field's lost from deferred COLAs over the past decade.
As we detail in our 2023 policy priorities, families need a workforce, not waitlists. And so, we welcome the emphasis on behavioral health and attention paid to the needs of families and young people that Governor Hochul has demonstrated so far- and await to see the details in the Executive Budget Proposal. Let's hope our network of family and youth advocates can throw our caution to the wind.
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FTNYS Preliminary Policy Agenda
Families Together in New York State has released a preliminary version of our priority agenda for the 2023 year and is subject to adjustments in response to the upcoming executive budget proposal. Some key themes this year:
- This is a youth behavioral health crisis. Families need a workforce, not waitlists.
- Young people are more likely to access mental health programs in schools. Protect students' right to learn with resources.
- For every family, a peer advocate. Fund Family and Youth Peer Support in New York State.
- Families living in poverty are more likely to experience child welfare involvement. Family needs must come first.
- Young people are not their worst mistakes. New York must defend and advance youth justice.
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On Thursday, January 19th at 11:00AM, education experts, legal advocates, legislators, students, and families will hold a press conference in Buffalo calling on the New York State Legislature to reform harmful disciplinary practices by passing the Solutions Not Suspensions Act. The coalition will also demand that the legislature update and implement revised codes of conduct across New York’s 700 school districts.
The press conference comes in response to a January 2023 report from the New York State Education Department that sounds the alarm on the outsized harm caused by suspensions in Buffalo Public Schools—particularly to students and families from marginalized communities—and suggests reform on the use of suspensions.
WHEN: Thursday, January 19th, 2023 at 11:00 AM or via Zoom (Pre-Registration Required).
WHERE: Mount Olive Baptist Church 701 East Delavan Avenue, Buffalo NY 14215
Buffalo is the epicenter of the school suspension crisis, as highlighted in a recent report from CoNECT/Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo, the NYCLU, and local advocates (Suspension in Buffalo Public Schools: History, Analysis and a Holistic, Positive Path Forward). For over a decade, parents, students and advocates have attempted to call attention to racially-biased school suspensions, emphasizing the fact that students who are suspended or expelled are up to twice as likely to be charged or convicted of a crime, less likely to pursue a college education, and much more likely to live in poverty as adults.
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From Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Holocaust Remembrance, this month we honor the spirit of one of our greatest advocates while remembering one of the worst genocides in history. It is important to acknowledge the impact of racism, antisemitism, and systemic marginalization. This is trauma. It is pervasive, ongoing and impacts generations of people. Trauma is never just about past events, it damages the present and future. Throughout history, Advocates with lived expertise have always been vital to systemic and societal change. The need for collective understanding and awareness of the wounds left within communities is an ongoing call to action for us all. In his 1963 letter from Birmingham Jail, MLK wrote - "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere - We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." Please take time to read below and foster your own internal call for understanding, ally-ship and change.
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Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King. Jr.
Click each graphic to enlarge.
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Holocaust Remembrance Day - January 27th, 2023
Click each graphic to enlarge
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Welcome to the Team, Gabriel! |
Join us in welcoming our new Western Regional Youth Partner, Gabriel Jackel-Dewhurst (They/He).
Gabe is a passionate advocate for people, especially youth, living with mental illness. They have had difficult experiences with the New York mental health system throughout both their childhood and young adult life.
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VOYA (Voices of Youth Advisors) is the youth advisory council of Rensselaer County. As a part of VOYA, you become a part of the Youth Power network, the New York State network of young people who have been labeled and who are seeking change.
Who can join?
- Any young person that wants a chance to make a difference
- Young people between the ages of 14 and 28 who live in Rensselaer County
- Have experience(d) in foster care or have received mental health, juvenile justice, substance abuse, and disability and/or special education services or identifies with an at-risk community in Rensselaer County
- Any young person who wants to get $25 for attending county committee meetings
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Youth Peer Meetings Are Here for You |
Join Our Peer Supervisors Meetings |
VoicesUnited4Change is Looking for Board Members! |
VoicesUnited4Change is a grassroots organization made up of parents and young adults who are passionate about children's mental health and have lived experience dealing with mental health challenges and overcoming them.
Board members are required to attend a monthly board meeting where we gather either virtually or in person. Board members are also expected to volunteer for our annual Children's Mental Health Awareness Walk in May. Members are also required to volunteer for at least two other events/activities.
Examples of these are community outreaches, fundraisers, and support groups. We hope to have board members with a wide variety of skills and expertise. Such as creativity, writing, speaking, etc.
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YPA Level 2, 4-Day Virtual Training:
January 26-27 & 30-31, 2023
12:00 PM to 4:00 PM each day
FPA Level 2, 4-Day Virtual Training:
February 9-10 & 13-14, 2023
9:30 AM to 2:00 PM each day
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Supervision to Promote Family-Driven Practice
Monday, January 23, 2023
12:00 PM
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Family Driven Care (FDC) is a framework that assists with the understanding that families are the main decision-makers in their lives and determine the care in which they participate and receive. To support this endeavor, members from CTAC developed the reference tool Supervision to Promote Family-Driven Practice. This tool for supervisors identifies approaches to supervision with suggestions on how to implement family-driven practice. This webinar will provide a brief overview of FDC, review the core components of supervision, and introduce the tool. |
Trans 101: Creating a Safe and Affirming Environment for Transgender Consumers |
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
10:00-11:30 AM
*multiple dates offered
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This engaging presentation will focus on how to affirm, support and work with mental health consumers who identify as transgender or gender nonconforming and will also highlight the mental health concerns that disproportionately impact this community due to stigma and marginalization. Attendees will come away with a greater sense of comfort and confidence about interacting with transgender and gender-nonconforming people in a respectful and affirming manner.
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New York’s FREE and confidential COVID-19 Emotional Support Helpline
1-844-863-9314
8:00am – 10:00pm / 7 Days per week
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NYSED Initiatives for Parents |
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is in the process of recruiting parents for two exciting initiatives! The Graduation Measures Blue Ribbon Commission and the Performance-Based Learning & Assessment Networks (PLAN) Pilot. A brief overview of both initiatives is included below. Parents would participate in small group virtual meetings approximately once a month.
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EMPOWERING FAMILIES. COORDINATING SYSTEMS.
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