Parents & Families

Description: The process of seeking and receiving help for a child with behavioral health needs is difficult. Parents can often feel blamed for their children’s challenges, and children often feel angry, helpless and at fault. The steps that a family goes through to identify the right kind of support can amplify an already difficult situation. 

Dr. April Fernando’s workshop will look at the assessment and re-assessment process: defines its purpose, barriers to a successful process, and provides strategies to help parents and young people better navigate the process and have it be part of healing.  The Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) as an integral part of the assessment and re-assessment processes will also be described, and its role in family engagement and empowerment in the journey through behavioral health care will be discussed.

Description: Janet Hoeke offers a parent perspective in transformation of a state system of care in her keynote from the Northwest Regional TCOM Conference (2019). Janet Hoeke is with the Idaho Parent Network for Children’s Mental Health.

Janet Hoeke shares her personal journey with us, and explains how including real life experiences in the development process helps everyone stay focused on the shared vision, and transforms the development of a system of care to the development of a system that cares.

Those that review Janet’s keynote will be able to explore how slight shifts in engagement paradigms can yield substantial shifts in the care experience and healing.