Thank You for Joining us at the Annual Conference!

Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make the 2025 Annual Conference a meaningful and energizing gathering. From Cohen Miles-Rath’s powerful keynote to the engaging workshops and Monday’s impactful panel on family advocacy, the event brought together families, caregivers, and professionals to share knowledge and build community.

The family party offered a joyful space for connection, while the conversations throughout the conference highlighted the strength and resilience at the heart of our work. We’re grateful to our speakers, facilitators, sponsors, and every attendee for being part of it.

We look forward to continuing this momentum in the year ahead.

Families Together Welcomes New Board Members

The Board of Directors at Families Together is honored to welcome two new members, Paola Jordan and Michelle Zuk.



Paola Jordan joins us from the New York City Region. She is a dedicated parent advocate and serves as the Director of Sinergia’s contract programs based in NYC. A native of Colombia, Paola brings extensive experience working with immigrant and Latino families. Her insight and passion will be a valuable addition to our board.

Michelle Zuk is the Executive Director of the Family Resource Network in Oneonta, NY, which serves families across Otsego, Chenango, and Delaware Counties. A long-standing advocate for youth and families, Michelle is the recent recipient of Families Together’s Lifetime Achievement Award—an honor she richly deserves. Michelle previously served on our Board, and we are thrilled to welcome her back.

We look forward to the leadership, experience, and commitment both Paola and Michelle will bring to our mission.

Solutions Not Suspensions Advocacy Day: A Resounding Success!

"Our children demand justice and fair opportunities; it is our duty to provide them with an education that uplifts, not one that suppresses," said Senator Robert Jackson.

On May 13th, 200 advocates from across the state joined the bill's sponsors in Albany to advocate for Solutions Not Suspensions immediate passage. The Solutions Not Suspensions campaign is a youth- and community-led movement fighting for alternatives to suspensions and expulsions. Instead of pushing students out of schools, the SNS Act calls for schools to invest in restorative justice, trauma informed care, and positive behavioral supports. Ahead of Advocacy Day, more than 100 organizations signed on to a joint letter urging state lawmakers to pass the bill, sending a powerful message: New York's students deserve better. At this year's Advocacy Day families and students who have lived through the harms of harsh discipline stood side by side with educators and lawmakers to say: every child deserves a supportive school, not suspension. From an energized rally on the Great Western Staircase to one-on-one legislative meetings, we made our voices heard in support of youth-centered policies. Thank you to everyone who joined us! Your energy and passion are exactly what it takes to keep this movement moving forward.

Numbers to Know:

● 137,511 students were suspended at least once in New York state during the 2023-2024 school year.

● Nearly a million days (957,934) of instruction were lost to suspensions and expulsions.

● 169 Pre-K students and 1,641 Kindergarteners were suspended at least once.

Navigating Developmental Disability: Resources for Caregivers

Thursday, May 29, 2025

12PM - 1:30PM

Family Peer Advocates provide support, resources, and information to families in the mental health system. One aspect of this work is helping families navigate complicated systems. Oftentimes, this involves working with caregivers or parents of children with co-occurring mental health conditions and intellectual and developmental disabilities. Caregivers new to navigating services for mental health and developmental disabilities often need assistance in identifying and accessing available resources. In this presentation, Family Peer Advocates will learn how to begin the process of accessing services within the intellectual and developmental disabilities system, understand the differences between these services and available mental health services, and alternative options if these services are not available. Attendees will hear first hand experiences from caregivers navigating these systems for their families.

Are you interested in growing your Family Peer or Youth Peer Program?

Check out a video series on programmatic and organizational growth and capacity building! This two-part series features five videos and resource handouts covering key practices like identifying funding sources, developing grants, and collaborating with community partners. You'll also learn about core principles of capacity building and peer leadership.

Celebration of Incremental Progress

Recovery doesn’t follow a straight line. By highlighting even small victories, whether it’s attending a group session, trying a new coping tool, or sharing one’s story, we reinforce self-efficacy and sustain motivation.

Trauma-Informed Framing

Recognize that mental-health conversations can surface intense emotions. Embedding clear content warnings and crisis-support information in all materials creates a foundation of psychological safety, participants feel seen, prepared, and supported.

Sustainable Self-Care for Advocates

Those who champion peer and family support often shoulder heavy emotional labor. Prioritizing regular, scheduled breaks preserves empathy, prevents compassion fatigue, and models healthy boundaries for everyone.

Cultural & Intersectional Responsiveness

Messaging and programming gain traction when they reflect the community’s diverse realities, language preferences, faith traditions, socioeconomic challenges.

Strategic Community Partnerships

Collaborations with faith leaders, educators, and peer-advocates extend reach and credibility. When local champions share personal insights, they normalize help-seeking and foster authentic connection

Resources & Further Reading:

OMH Family Peer Advocate Program – https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/advocacy-peer-support.html

SAMHSA: Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach (2014) - https://library.samhsa.gov/product/samhsas-concept-trauma-and-guidance-trauma-informed-approach/sma14-4884

Spotlight: 45th Annual Legislative Disability Awareness Day

On Thursday, May 8, Community Engagement & Inclusion Coordinator, Simcha Weinstein represented Families Together in NYS at the 45th Annual Legislative Disability Awareness Day in Albany. At the FTNYS resource table, Simcha shared family-driven tools and strategies from the “Raising Resilient Families” training series. Thank you to everyone who stopped by!

For further reading, learn about Willie Mae Goodman, a trailblazing leader in New York State disability legislation whose tireless advocacy helped ignite the disability-rights movement:

https://nyccivilrightshistory.org/gallery/willie-mae-and-marguerite-goodman/

The Community Engagement for Inclusion & Equity Department is proud to present Real Talk, Real Tools! A new training series for parents, caregivers, and family peer advocates.

This three-part series is rooted in lived experience, grounded in evidence, and guided by common sense. Each session offers practical, relatable strategies to support families, build connection, and strengthen resilience.

Join us throughout June as we explore topics like building circles of support, nurturing youth passions, and how civic engagement can support mental health.

Check out the flyer on the left for full details and registration links!

Kitchen & Couch Conversation - Registration

Finding & Feeding Youth Passions - Registration

Civic Engagement & Mental Health - Registration

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