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Volume 15, Issue 1
The Parent-To-Parent Program in Cultural Communities
Several years ago MACMH began to receive a growing number of requests from different communities to develop culturally specific Parent- to-Parent Programs. In response to this community interest and with support from The Saint Paul Foundation, The Minneapolis Foundation, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation, we began Parent-to-Parent pilot programs in Hispanic, African American, Somali, and Hmong communities. During the past two years, these programs have served more than 100 parents of children with mental health disorders.
To establish these programs, MACMH, as the sponsor organization, worked with members from each of the interested communities to  begin the process of building self-sustaining parent support and advocacy groups. We found that the most effective way to start a Parent-to-Parent group is to collaborate with a community-based organization within each of the cultural communities. Once a host organization is found, a facilitatorÑwho has experience working with parents and is knowledgeable about children's mental healthÑbegins to work with the parents to build trust and to bridge cultural gaps so that parents are better able to understand the mental health care systems they need to navigate to get the services they need for their children. Together with the host organizations and facilitators, MACMH has, in just two years, successfully established safe and culturally sensitive environments where parents are building strong relationships with other families and receiving the education and resources they need to advocate for and support their children.
While it has taken time and persistence to build trust and bridge cultural views on mental health, the parents who are participating in the Parent-to-Parent groups are now more able to understand childrenÕs mental health problems from a western standpoint, and they are also able to reconcile western views and practices with their own cultural background. Additionally, parents are beginning to understand the nature of American schools and the mental health care system.
Though each of the groups established has made enormous progress and is well on its way to becoming self-sustaining, they still need guidance and support to continue to build on the foundation that was established during the pilot phase. Our organization's role now is to find continued funding to support each group until it is truly ready to be independent.
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165 Western Avenue North
Saint Paul, MN 55102
Phone: 651-644-7333
1-800-528-4511
Fax: 651-644-7391
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