FAMILIES HELPING FAMILIES Presentation January 18, 2007 Co-presenters: Heidi Sanborn, President

1. FAMILIES HELPING FAMILIES Presentation January 18, 2007 Co-presenters: Heidi Sanborn, President NAMI Sacramento Lael Walz, President NAMI Nevada County Serving Youth with Mental Illness

2. PRESENTATION AGENDA • What is NAMI? • What does NAMI do? • NAMI’s focus on children's issues • The Heart of the Matter: Children Robbed of Childhood • Parents and Teachers Becoming Allies • Understanding Family Reactions • NAMI Resources to Strengthen the Parent/Teacher Alliance Serving Youth with Mental Illness

3. WHAT IS NAMI? • National Alliance on Mental Illness • Nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons living with serious mental illness and their families • Founded in 1979 by parents • NAMI organizations in every state • 1,100 local “affiliates” across the country • Meet the NAMI mission through advocacy, research, support, and education Serving Youth with Mental Illness

4. Mission • NAMI Sacramento provides mutual support, resources, advocacy, and education for families friends, and persons with mental illness to improve their general welfare and treatment. Serving Youth with Mental Illness

5. Vision • All people nationwide can turn to a seamless NAMI organization for help, and receive it when they need it. • All vestiges of stigma and discrimination have been eliminated. • The best evidence-based and emerging science-based treatments and support are delivered to all people who live with mental illness and their families. • Mental illness is no longer an obstacle to a full and satisfying life; it has either been eliminated or its impact greatly diminished as a result of research, early intervention, and treatment. Serving Youth with Mental Illness

6. Our Goals • Provide a means for the family and friends of mentally ill persons to share experiences, explore solutions, obtain mutual support, and become better informed. • Educate NAMI members and the community about mental illness. • To eliminate the stigma associated with mental illness. Serving Youth with Mental Illness

7. Our Goals(continued) • Establish and improve community support programs for persons with mental illness. • Establish and improve treatment facilities and services for persons with mental illness. • Maintain a well informed membership, particularly concerning the treatment and legislation and advocacy opportunities around mental illness. Serving Youth with Mental Illness

8. Our Goals(continued) • Encourage the inclusion and active involvement of family members in the operation of the mental health system at all levels, particularly as it pertains to the treatment and care of family members. • Support continuing research on mental illness and promising alternative treatments for mentally ill persons. Serving Youth with Mental Illness

9. NAMI Programs • Family • Family to Family Classes • Support Groups/General Meetings • Consumer • Peer to Peer • In Our Own Voice • Support Groups/General Meetings Serving Youth with Mental Illness

10. NAMI Programs (cont.) • Law Enforcement Training • Public Speakers Bureau • Walk for Mental Health • Advocacy in 2006: • Mental Health Court • Housing • Funding for Improved Services • Assisted Outpatient Treatment Serving Youth with Mental Illness

11. Plans for the Future • Stronger Community Outreach • Parents and Teachers as Allies??? • Support group for parents of school –aged children with mental illness???? Serving Youth with Mental Illness

12. Children Robbed of Childhood “What I remember most is the suffering. Kids are supposed to be happy. Boy, that’s a joke. I was depressed for years and felt totally odd and isolated, almost despised. Growing up was a miserable experience until I got help.” By a young man in therapy, recalling his childhood. Serving Youth with Mental Illness

13. President s NFC Recommends Schools Play a Bigger Role … • Goal 4 of President Bush’s New Freedom Commission Report on Mental Health, issued in July 2003, calls for schools to play a larger role in the early identification of mental health treatment needs in children and in linking them to appropriate services. • This is just what Parents and Teachers as Allies program targets. Serving Youth with Mental Illness

14. The Words of the NFC … “The mission of public schools is to educate all students. However, children with serious emotional disturbances have the highest rates of school failure. Fifty percent of these students drop out of high school, compared to 30% of all students with disabilities. Schools are where children spend most of each day … Serving Youth with Mental Illness

15. Need for Early Identification of Mental Illness • The overwhelming majority of children and adolescents with mental illnesses fail to be identified and linked with services. • There are often tragic and avoidable consequences. • Many school professionals lack an understanding of early onset mental illnesses. • In Sacramento, we have Early Diagnosis and Preventative Treatment (EDAPT) Clinic at UCD…. Serving Youth with Mental Illness

16. NAMI National Website: www.nami.org • Research, Services & Treatment • Schools and Education • For Parents, Caregivers & Youth • Juvenile Justice & Child Welfare • Federal & State Policy Legislation Serving Youth with Mental Illness

17. Parents and Teachers As Allies Two-hour in-service program helps school professionals identify the early warning signs of early-onset mental illnesses in children and adolescents.  Focuses on the specific, age-related symptoms of mental illnesses in youth, how best to intervene, and share the lived experiences of consumers and families. Serving Youth with Mental Illness

18. The Role of Schools in Early Identification … NAMI recognized the tremendous value of having parents and school professionals working together as allies… …which led to the development of the Parents and Teachers as Allies publication in 1999 (updated in 2003). Serving Youth with Mental Illness

19. The Words of the NFC cont. “While schools are primarily concerned with education, mental health is essential to learning as well as to social and emotional development … Schools must be partners in the mental health care of our children.” (NFC Report, 2003) Serving Youth with Mental Illness

20. For Parents & Caregivers • FREE SUBSCRIPTION to NAMI Beginnings, a free quarterly magazine developed by the Child and Adolescent Action Center that publishes articles about children's mental health issues. Contact Dana Crudo at danac@nami.org.  • Fact Sheets on the illnesses • NAMI Child and Adolescent Resource GuideRecommended resources for children and adolescents living with mental illnesses and their families as well as for children who have a parent with a mental illness. The guide includes books, DVDs, websites and VHS tapes. • Much more support information at www.nami.org Serving Youth with Mental Illness

21. Discussion Groups • Teen ConsumersFor youth who have been diagnosed with a mental illness and want to discuss their experiences with their peers. • Parents and Caregivers of Child/Teen ConsumersFor parents and caregivers who have a child with a mental illness and want to share their stories, ask questions, and find support from others. • CAAC Leaders Networking DiscussionLimited-access discussion group exclusively for NAMI State and Affiliate leaders on child and adolescent mental health issues. Serving Youth with Mental Illness

22. Parents and Teachers as Allies in Sacramento? • Consider this as a possible outcome of the conference • NAMI Sacramento will consider starting these programs if there is a desire by the parents and schools • To start these programs and parents support groups, we must work together as a community Serving Youth with Mental Illness

23. Understanding Family Reactions • Dealing with a catastrophic event • Crisis/shock, denial, hoping against hope • NEEDS: Support, comfort, empathy for confusion, connection to resources, • Learning to Cope • Anger/guilt, recognition, grief • NEEDS: Vent feelings, keep hope, education, self-care, networking, co-operation from system • Moving Into Advocacy: Charge! • Understanding, Acceptance, Advocacy/Action • NEEDS: Activism, Restoring balance in life, Responsiveness from the system Serving Youth with Mental Illness

24. NAMI Nevada County Parent Support Program • Meetings: 1-2 times a month to discuss the challenges with helping our children; we email and phone to help each other with specific issues • Diagnostic issues: the complexities and comorbidities especially with anxiety and for some, substance abuse • Treatment issues: medication trials and titrations, side effects; how to find/talk with the doctor; have a crisis plan; talk therapy; substance abuse; illness management and education • Family issues: stress reduction; how much should you expect from your ill child; siblings, non-understanding family members; how to self-care as a parent who can be and have a family in crisis…. Serving Youth with Mental Illness

25. NAMI Nevada County Parent Support Programcont. School/Community Challenges • Disconnect that can occur between parents and schools: as parents, we focus first on keeping our kids alive and minimizing disability • IEP or 504? OHI or ED? SED? And the stigma that kids and families face in community systems • Understanding symptoms to optimize accommodations and modifications, independent living skills; how to talk with teachers and school administrators; school placement • Attend school meetings to support parents and kids and offer information to educators Serving Youth with Mental Illness

26. NAMI Nevada County Parent Support Programcont.: Then there’s the Juvenile Justice System… • In Nevada County 10 to 15 percent of kids in Juvenile Hall have a severe mental illness, the most common being bipolar • We help parents whose kids are in the juvenile justice system, its complexities and inadequacies • We work with juvenile justice officials, educating and advocating for better understanding of the issues these kids and families face. Serving Youth with Mental Illness

27. NAMI Nevada County Parent Support Programcont.: And now they’re adults… • We help each other with issues regarding medical insurance, higher education, work—getting the job isn’t usually the issue, it’s keeping it… • Independence….how to keep your sanity while honoring their journey… • Is your young adult disabled? The associated challenges with Social Security, how they spend their time • What and how much do parents do now? Where do your kids live? Serving Youth with Mental Illness

28. Website Resources • www.nami.org NAMI National • www.namicalifornia.org NAMI California • www.namisacramento.org NAMI Sacramento • www.earlypsychosis.ucdavis.eduUCD Early Diagnosis and Preventative Treatment Clinic • www.bpkids.org Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation • www.starfishadvocacy.org For parents of children with neurological disorders • www.mentalhealthrecovery.com Mary Ellen Copeland, mental health recovery educator • www.nimh.nih.gov National Institute of Mental Health • www.dbsalliance.org Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance Serving Youth with Mental Illness

29. NAMI Sacramento General Meetings • When: Second Monday of each month - 7:30 - 9:00 PM  • Where: SMUD Auditorium 6201 “S” Street Sacramento, CA 95817 Serving Youth with Mental Illness

30. For More Information NAMI Sacramento Website: www.namisacramento.org Office: (916) 874-9416 Heidi Sanborn - bhsan@comcast.net _____________________________ NAMI Nevada County www.nccn.net/~ncami/ Contact: (530) 272-4566 Lael Walz - jdwlaw@nccn.net Serving Youth with Mental Illness

31. NAMI Presentation Thank you! Questions? Serving Youth with Mental Illness