|
"As a grandmother raising a baby, I wanted to connect with other relative caregivers in similar situations. There wasn't a resource, so I started the local Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Group." |
Kinship Caregiver |
Kinship |
|
04/12/19 |
|
"...While my mother was given services for substance abuse, housing, and employment, she did not receive any or adequate mental health services. I truly believe if she had mental health support/services I would have been reunified with her." |
Youth/Alumni |
Mental Health |
|
01/22/19 |
|
"...The more support relative caregivers receive, the more likely relatives will step up to care for their family members. This will help to lower the number of foster homes needed and decrease the number of children in foster care..." |
Youth/Alumni |
Kinship |
|
05/07/19 |
|
"...My parents didn't have support to access or understand how necessary mental health services were for them to keep their children..." |
Youth/Alumni |
Mental Health |
|
01/17/19 |
|
"...It just seemed to me that legislators might want to hear the voice of someone who’s impacted by a bill that’s on the table..." |
Youth/Alumni |
Older Youth |
|
02/25/19 |
|
"...I would have liked them to go through a training to understand their role for me and understand the trauma I was still experiencing, instead of them telling me I should be grateful to be with them instead of a "random family"..." |
Youth/Alumni |
Kinship |
|
04/10/19 |
|
"...I wish I would have felt supported to address *all* of the major barriers and needs to quality parenting during the life of my case. Instead, I reacted with fear and stigma..." |
Birth Parent |
Mental Health |
|
01/25/19 |
|
"...I cannot help but think that if she had access to mental health treatment, she might not have relapsed and died at age 22 almost one year clean, leaving behind her 9-month-old daughter." |
Kinship Caregiver |
Mental Health |
|
01/30/19 |
|
"...Having access to support groups and information through groups like the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) helped our family understand the illness..." |
Kinship Caregiver, Organization/Advocate |
Mental Health |
|
01/22/19 |
|
"...Growing up, I knew my mom had some challenges. I firmly believe mental health services would have helped my mom and helped me figure out how to support her..." |
Youth/Alumni |
Mental Health |
|
01/29/19 |
|
"...Be willing to go above and beyond your duties to assist caregivers goes a long way - helping them fill out applications and connecting them directly to a resource rather than just handing them a pamphlet helps to make referrals successful..." |
Organization/Advocate |
Kinship |
|
04/29/19 |
|
"...Apply wrap-around care that coordinates efforts from one location for all available services and resources with attention given to specific needs and circumstances..." |
Birth Parent |
Kinship |
|
04/30/19 |
|
"...A contact person for every family - to answer the caregivers' questions about how to navigate the system and be able to share what services are and aren't available..." |
Kinship Caregiver |
Kinship |
|
04/10/19 |
