Pre-selected parents that successfully completed the Families LEAD Advocacy Academy participated in the next round of trainings: Serving on Groups in March and Leading by Convening in April. These parents are moving one step closer to becoming the first group of peer-to-peer mentors for Families LEAD.
Families LEAD is a collaborative project of the Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disables (MSCCD), MS Parent Training & Information (MSPTI) Center, Mississippi Center for Advanced Medicine (MCAM) with Dr. Victoria Kivlan, Pediatric Audiologist, and Toni Hollingsworth, Project Director of the Mississippi Hearing-Vision Project (MH-VP). The project is funded by a sub-grant from the Mississippi State Department of Health.
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.
For more information about Families LEAD, call (601) 969-0601 or email Brittany Greer, MSCCD Project Support Coordinator, at brittany@msccd.org.
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