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Steps Toward Evidence-Based Practices for Parents
with Mental Illness and their Families
Acknowledgements
The Program for Parenting Well at the Center for Mental Health Services Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) is a multi-disciplinary team of parents and professionals committed to exploring the experiences of and developing resources for families living with parental mental illness. We receive on-going funding and support from our colleagues and partners at the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and the UMMS Department of Psychiatry.
Many people have contributed to the success of this project. Our SAMHSA Center for Mental Health Services collaborators are extremely supportive. Judith Katz-Leavy, our project officer, is integral to conceptualizing our work and provides continuing support and consultation.
We are indebted to staff, clients, and community members at the programs we visited across the country for their hospitality and openness. For each site visit, program coordinators, staff, and program participants gave up much of their time and resources to assist us in understanding their unique and innovative approaches to serving families. We are particularly thankful to Kit Crane at Family Support Services/PACE, Harvey Lieberman at the Emerson Davis Family Development Center, Lucinda Sloan Mallen at the Invisible Children's Program, Mary Sidoti at Children and Parents Together, Joellen Brannen Rodriquez at the SFGH Women's Issues Psychiatric Program, Anna Spielvogel at the SFGH Consultation /Liaison Program to OB/GYN, and Betsy Wolfe at the SFGH Infant Parent Program. The commitment of these individuals to serving families living with parental mental illness is inspiring. We are grateful to our colleague Toni Wolf, Executive Director of Employment Options, Inc., for helping us on site visits, and sharing her expertise and wisdom. We are thankful to the representatives of 48 programs who participated in the National Program Survey. Through telephone interviews, program directors or their designees helped us understand the wide range of services available for parents and their families throughout the United States.
Our National Advisory Group on Parents with Psychiatric Disorders and their Families helped us determine criteria for selecting sites to visit, and thinking through procedures and protocols for gathering data essential to taking next steps toward evidence-based practice. The Advisory Group helped keep us on track, and provided support and encouragement over the course of the study.
Finally, we are grateful to the families living with mental illness who welcomed us into their homes, to help us understand their experiences. We are humbled by their hard work and desire to be the best parents they can be.
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