A UNCG program may offer hope to those with mental health issues

Ultimately, the challenges Brown faced as a parent of a child with a mental health diagnosis, seizures, and other issues were the kind of experiences that work required.

“She told me she felt she could help other families learn to serve their children in the same way I had to fight for my son. rice field.

Brown is currently working with an organization called NC Youth and Family Voices Amplified. This is a unique program launched last year by UNCG on behalf of the state. Supported in federal dollarsThe program provides training and assistance to “Family Partners” and “Youth Peer Support Providers” throughout North Carolina. These roles require “live experience” as a primary qualification.

Frederick Douglass, the program’s family training coordinator, says, “Having at least one person who can relate to what you’re going through means a lot.

A “family partner” is a parent of a child with mental illness who is currently helping a parent similar to himself. “Youth Peer Support Providers” are people who grew up struggling with mental illness and are now helping her teens and young adults.

The idea behind this program is that people who have experienced mental health problems, either personally or in a support role such as a parent, and have come out on the other side can help others with similar problems. It means that you are ready to help.

Stacey Forrest, a child mental health program consultant for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, said the state government is helping families struggling with mental health struggles to have someone who has been there. He said he kept hearing voices.

“It’s very important,” she said. “They are in the same situation and the family is really accommodating with it.”

The idea of ​​peer support providers in the mental health realm is not new. But the state’s recent investment in creating a UNCG program comes amid an ongoing mental health crisis.

Between 2019 and 2021, the percentage of Americans reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression nearly quadrupled. Faced with an “unprecedented need” for mental health services, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services says strengthening youth peer support her providers and family partners will help the state deal with the onslaught and provide lasting support. We believe it is an effective strategy to help bring about lasting change.

Family and youth peer support providers in North Carolina work for a variety of agencies, nonprofits, private providers, and churches, all of which are paid in a variety of ways. State leaders don’t have figures on how many are working, but they do know they want to hire more professionals.

They see Voices of Youth and Families as a centralized hub that can do many important things to support these entities. When they help others suffering from mental illness.

One is training. This includes recruiting and training people for these roles so that their experience can be disseminated to organizations and agencies throughout the state.

Another is helping families in need connect with existing family and youth peer support providers.

The need for training and connectivity grows as the state tries out family and youth peer support providers in several new settings, including state mobile emergency units for children and a number of psychiatric residential treatment facilities. There are also several new initiatives underway in North Carolina to make family and youth peer support available to specific groups of Medicaid recipients.

Michael McGrath, wraparound services program manager for the nonprofit Easterseals UCP, is involved in one of those efforts. He said that while North Carolina lags behind some other states in figuring out how to incorporate peer support for families and youth, it is on the right track.Family and youth partners is good at helping people stand up for their own interests and goals within the mental health care system and other national systems, he said.

“If we don’t bring in the voices of families or involve young people, we’re basically just telling them what to do. It doesn’t work,” he said.

Within the realm of mental health services, youth peer support providers are most commonly those suffering from mental disorders and are now using their experience to assist them.

“It’s a really unique package. It’s really the young adults coming out of the other side of it and bringing that experience in a position to give back,” McGrath said.

Like Erin Haynes. She is a Peer Support Her Specialist working with young people at the Kerin Foundation, a non-profit organization in Greensboro.

Haynes works directly or virtually with young people over the age of 13 who have experienced serious mental health or substance abuse disorders. The services she provides are free and funded by grants. Sometimes she has a waiting list. Otherwise, it doesn’t.

But for young people to get help, they must act voluntarily, rather than being forced by their parents.

“It’s part of defending yourself,” said Haynes, who is from Winston-Salem.

Haynes said he works with clients to help them set goals, understand coping skills, and connect with community resources. Unlike a therapist, Haynes does not help clients process trauma.

“I take my experience of knowing how to keep myself fit and use it to inspire others and help them become more resilient,” she said.

According to her, mental health recovery means learning to live with the disorder and manage its symptoms.

“When I wasn’t recovering, my depression was very interfering with my daily activities,” she said. I didn’t socialize with other people, but now I know what works for me, and I know how to take care of myself through it.”

Haynes was already dealing with anxiety and depression when he lost his best friend in a car accident at age 16. They then “folded a thousandfold” and she developed post-traumatic stress disorder and insomnia, leaving her bedridden for weeks at times.

Haines therapists, psychiatrists and emotional support dogs have helped me recover, and since then I’ve been able to accomplish big goals like earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and launching my career.

Still, looking back, I wish I had had the support of my peers in my teenage years.

“I felt like no one else had this experience. I felt alone and alone,” she said. “Having someone you could have a relationship with who had a significant mental health disorder, I think it would have been very beneficial to learn the different coping skills they had.”

The role of the family partner is focused on helping parents secure services and understand how to support their child’s needs after being diagnosed with a mental health disorder.

That’s what Alamance County parent Shantay Collins experienced when she got help from Brown. When the Youth and Family Voices Collaboration Coordinator was working as a family partner in Alamance County.

At the time, Collins said she and her children were coming out of a traumatic domestic violence situation. helped me understand everything.

“I didn’t know how to defend my kids,” Collins said. “That’s what I have under my belt now.”

Brown said he typically worked with 15 to 20 families when he was a family partner in Alamance County. This included sending emails, going to his home, and sometimes attending meetings with teachers and doctors.

“I don’t drive for them,” she said. “I’m like their navigator, their GPS.”

Collins said that when she wanted to give up, Brown, who went through it, didn’t give up on her.

And listening to Brown helped Collins believe that success was possible, even when he felt he didn’t want to trust anyone.

“To connect with someone, you want to know that they have something in common to connect with,” she said.