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Stories from our Parent Mentors
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Stories from Past Family Pages
Parent Mentor's resources, tips and ideas to help guide your child through school and beyond.
How Parent Mentors Work with Families
Interagency Planning Teams and “Wraparound Support” |
Parent Mentors are called on to help support families and also to help professionals understand the parent perspective.
Under the umbrella of the Georgia Department of Community Health, Dept. of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Local Interagency Planning Teams (LIPT) were created as part of the “wraparound services” for families of children with behavior disorders.
The teams bring together agency representatives from school systems, dept. of Juvenile Justice, Dept. of Behavioral Health, Department of Family and Children’s Services, and other agencies for a wide range of needs.
The underlying purpose for the development of the LIPT is to improve and facilitate the coordination of services to children with severe emotional disorders (SEDs) and addictive disease.
LIPTs have the following goals:
To assure that children with severe emotional disorders (SEDs) and addictive disease (AD) and their families have access to a system of care in their geographic areas;
To assure the provision of an array of community services;
To decrease fragmentation and duplication of services and maximize the utilization of all available resources in providing needed services;
To facilitate effective referral and screening systems that will assure that children have access to the services they need to lead productive lives.
By law, membership on the teams must include the following representatives, so it is recommended that they be included in the five to ten people sent to training:
DFCS
DJJ
BHDD
School system
Mental Health Provider
Public Health Department
DOL Vocational Rehabilitation
How do parents participate in LIPT meetings?
According to the LIPT training manual:
Whenever possible, the parent (or advocate) should be present during the entire time their child is discussed.
Keep parent involved at all times.
If a parent is unable to make a meeting, reschedule at a time and date that is convenient for them. Offer to use the phone or skype if necessary.
Make sure that details that could make it difficult for a parent to attend, such as child care or transportation, are dealt with ahead of time.
Include the parent in follow up meetings, especially during transition times.Download the LIPT Brochure
Are parent mentors part of LIPT teams?
Amanda Locke, parent mentor for Evans County Schools said, " I function much as we do in general. I think I am there to nudge. I share parent's concerns if they are not present; I share parent perspectives as the team looks for ways to serve the family.
I try to assist the family in understanding the benefit of the LIPT. Recently, we had a student’s case before the LIPT and I provided background and information describing the search for supports that we had been on prior to the LIPT referral. I feel it is extremely necessary that the families’ journey for solutions is brought to life and is not just an application or file.
That is probably my purpose in a nutshell.”
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Post Secondary INCLUSION
“I believe we are on the verge of a new movement in Georgia,” said Debbie Currere, Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership Family Outreach Coach.
This movement is to create, collaborate on, and envision, inclusive post-secondary educational opportunities for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. “We need to be asking the question: ‘What are we doing to prepare ALL students for college?’” she said.
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Currere and a number of other parent mentors attended a Post Secondary Inclusion Consortium meeting in Atlanta in January. The meetings were led by Cate Weir, (pictured at left) project coordinator of Think College at the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. |
“I learned that there are 250 programs nationwide and only 1 in Georgia. It is at Kennesaw State University,” Currere said. She also noted that parent mentors are in a unique position not only to help inform and guide education leaders about post secondary inclusion programs and the need for them. Parent mentors can also help parents understand what the Georgia Alternative Assessment means for their children’s post secondary options and help them learn about programs like Kennesaw’s. Read about the Kennesaw program here.
What is the situation now?
According to national statistics, 30 percent of people with disabilities report being employed full or part time, compared to 70 percent of those who do not have disabilities. Youth with intellectual disabilities exiting high school are the only category of SWD (students with disabilities) not experiencing an increase in earnings about minimum wage. Only 34 percent of individuals with disabilities compared to 61 percent of individuals without disabilities say they are satisfied with life.
What is the value of PSE (Post Secondary Education)?
Youth who participated in PSE were 26 percent more likely to leave Vocational Rehabilitation with paid employment and earned 73 percent higher weekly incomes.
TERRI'S TIPS |
Parent Mentors share ideas and resources with one another on a daily basis. Terri Goodridge, mom of a young son receiving special education related services and a Bibb County Parent Mentor, files our parents’ tips in categories, so she can share information. |  |
