During the past 10 to 15 years, the participation of families in planning, implementing, and evaluating community-based children's mental health services has become increasingly valued.This article describes the natural history of NewYork's efforts to create partnerships with families and, from this experience, articulates the stages of parent involvement in policymaking and summarizes lessons learned and recommendations for effective and enduring families as allies policy. This goal is accomplished through a review of the historical context and presentation of a case study of one state's efforts to develop a policy regarding involvement of parents in planning, services research, and system structural reform. From this experience a developmental sequence for creating alliances with families is derived.
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