Connecting Low-Income Families To Mental Health Services

Abstract

The family associate is a parent without professional mental health training who acts as a system guide to low-income families whose children have been referred to mental health services through the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment program. The family associate provides emotional support, information about mental health services and community resources, and directs assistance, such as help with transportation and child care. Based on the belief that parent-to-parent support can be a powerful tool in overcoming the barriers to accessing services, the family associate role has been successfully implemented in three counties in Oregon. The family associate role and its implementation, characteristics of the families who participated, and the implications for introducing this role into traditional mental health service systems are described.

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