The Ally
December 2019
The Families As Allies Newsletter

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Please join us 
Tuesday, January 21st
from 4:30 to 7:00 PM 
at our
Annual New Year Open House
to celebrate another year
of working together.

We'll have great food, activities for children, and the opportunity to network with colleagues, visit with old friends and make new ones.

Please join in the celebration and share your vision for Families as Allies in 2020.



COMING SOON:
OUR INFANT AND EARLY CHILDHOOD MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS VIDEO 


We'll soon be ready to debut our infant and early childhood mental health  awareness video, featuring the first family of Jackson. Look for it in early January. The video is part of a larger awareness campaign focused on three themes: even young children can have social and emotional challenges, help is available,  and the best way to help young children is by partnering with their families.  

Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and his wife Ebony are the spokespeople for this campaign because they are passionate about these themes for every family in Jackson.

LEGISLATIVE BUDGET INFO FOR THE
2021 BUDGET YEAR

 
Thanks to all of you
who were so generous last month on Giving Tuesday and helped us reach our fundraising goal.

And we'd also like to thank and
give a shout out to everyone who contributed by participating in the
12 Days Of Giving!

YOUR
GENEROSITY
MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN FAMILIES' LIVES!

DONATE
 


MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

Disability Awareness Day on
Tuesday, January 28th
from 8 AM to 2 PM at the Mississippi State Capitol.

Disability Awareness Day
at the  State Capitol
is hosted annually by the Coalition
for Citizens with Disabilities.

The day offers people with disabilities, family members and advocates an opportunity to learn about current disability issues, network with others in the disability community and speak with decision-makers who can preserve or expand services that make a critical difference in the lives of Mississippians with disabilities.

For more information contact
Mickey Alford at 601-969-0601
or email: [email protected]

 
Mental Health and
Wellness Day  at the Capitol



MARCH 11, 2020

MISSISSIPPI STATE CAPITOL BUILDING
400 High Street
Jackson, MS 39201

7:30 am Set-up West Hallway
8:00am to 11:00am

For more info  contact Kay Daneault at
(228) 864-6274 or email:

 
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WISHING ALL OF YOU A JOYFUL AND PEACEFUL HOLIDAY SEASON! 







NATIONAL FEDERATION OF
FAMILIES  FOR CHILDREN'S
MENTAL HEALTH  CONFERENCE
  

We were delighted to make several presentations at the  National Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health  conference, which was held in Phoenix, AZ from Nov. 13-17th.   The conference is held annually, and is attended by over 600 participants representing every state in the union. Executive director Joy Hogge is a member of the Federation's board. 












 

FAMILY DRIVEN SUSTAINABILITY IN THE
MIDST OF AN EVER CHANGING LANDSCAPE:
WHAT'S AN ED TO DO 

 
WE'VE REDESIGNED AND
UPDATED OUR WEBSITE

AND WE WANT TO KNOW
WHAT YOU THINK!

We've completely redesigned and updated our website to make it more responsive to parents and families based upon your feedback and insights. We hope that the changes we made are helpful, and we are always looking for feedback from you about how we can make it better. 

You can click on the image above to take a look, Be sure to click on the feedback window and tell us what you think!



TUPELO
JOINS JACKSON, HATTIESBURG
AND MERIDIAN ON  OUR LEADERSHIP  TRAINING TOUR
  

This year our organization has been busy responding to the demand for leadership training from parents and parent peer support specialists across the state. Over the summer we hosted three well-attended sessions in Jackson, Hattiesburg and Meridian for parents and parent peer support specialists  who are interested in using their leadership  skills to improve state and local systems that  serve children.

Last month we held our first leadership training in Tupelo, and it was a great success. We had more people show up than had registered! Thanks to Cheryl Falzone, president of The Arc of Northeast Mississippi for partnering with us on this training and for getting the word out to the community.

Henry Moore,  our director of family-driven practice, and Coreaner Price, family partner, led the training.

Graduates of the leadership training are prepared to serve on state and regional committees and are able to support these committees in being more responsive to families and to make decisions consistent with family-driven practice.

Contact Henry at [email protected] if you would like to register for a training or bring this training to your area.
Contact Joy Hogge if you are a policy maker who would like to ensure your committees, work groups and task forces are fully responsive to family members. We have
lots of parents who are ready to partner with you!


UPDATE ON THE
DOJ vs. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
MENTAL HEALTH LAWSUIT


On December 2 Judge Carlton Reeves held a hearing to listen to the two parties' proposals regarding the special master in the lawsuit regarding Mississippi's mental health system. We posted our notes from the hearing on Facebook and you can
click here to read them in full.

Here are some quotes from Judge Reeves during the hearing, taken from our notes.

" There are people who need these services who haven't gotten them..... That is my only concern."

"I'm not going to waste time. I encourage the parties to come together on the special master proposal."
"I don't have expertise. One reason we want them (referencing Special Master) is to have expertise."

"A resolution, that's what I want. Is there anything that moves us closer to that?"

"What we don't want is for our citizens to not get the services they need."

ATTORNEY JIM SHELSON (for the state of MS):
" We are serious about resolving this in good faith. Because of the change in leadership the state would like to delay until mid February to give the new elected officials time to get up to speed and make decisions about next steps."

ATTORNEY DEENA FOX (for the US Department of Justice):
" We are working on a proposal now for the special master and waiting on
approval at the upper levels of the Department of Justice, which we expect in the next few weeks. "