Families Helping Families Of Louisiana
A Network of Family Directed Resource Centers
Families Helping Families is a coordinated network of nine resource centers, with all of the executive directors being parents of children with disabilities. Families Helping Families is recognized in Louisiana as the place to go for information and referrals, education and training and peer support for all persons with disabilities and their families. Families Helping Families also serves as a resource for professionals.
In the early nineties, families partnered with the Developmental Disabilities Council to be the driving force that founded and formed the Families Helping Families Network of Louisiana. It all began at a conference sponsored by the DD Council in 1988 that focused on community supports and services for people with disabilities. The Conference was attended by many young parents, who wanted to have full inclusion for their children with disabilities, in the communities where they lived and worked.
During the wrap up portion of the conference one parent asked that the flip chart full of great ideas serve a purpose besides covering the walls. The DD Council took the challenge, began pilot projects and gathered information to write legislation that created Act 378 of 1989 (pdf) known as the Community and Family Support Legislation.
One of the first steps that the council took was to hold forums in every region of the state to collect input from families and self-advocates so that the services they needed would be targeted. One of the services that families asked for over and over was a "family friendly" single place to get information and services.
The DD Council formed committees to address the services and supports that families said they needed. One of the committees was Single Point of Entry. While this committee looked at how that could be achieved, other groups of parents and advocates, with members that included many of the same people were also addressing similar issues. The State Interagency Coordinating Council was mandated by Federal Law to involve families in the planning and education process of their state initiatives and hired a parent, Debbie Braud as their coordinator. Debbie received strong support from then Executive Director of the DD Council, Anne Farber. Under their leadership and with funding from the DD Council and SICC, a project in San Jose, California called Parents Helping Parents directed by Florene Poyadue was contacted for information and training on how to create resource centers in Louisiana.
By the end of 1992 each region of the state was represented by a Families Helping Families Resource Center. The DD Council provided the funding and Project PROMPT and ChildNet provided some of the first personnel to staff the centers.
Thousands of families have received help in connecting to services, understanding their rights and responsibilities, and enjoyed the opportunity to talk to someone who has been there. The DD Council has supported the centers throughout the years and continues to be one of their main supporters with funds and technical assistance. Families Helping Families now has contracts to provide services to people with disabilities that are served by Children's Special Health Services, State Department of Education, Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities, Office of Mental Health, Office of Community Services, La. Children's Trust Fund and Office of Community Supports and Services. Project PROMPT continues as a major component of the centers.
Each center builds its programs based on the needs in its own region. The common mission, philosophy and dedication to people with disabilities and their family members make all of the centers one entity. Donna Yancey took this quote and made it our motto:
Families Helping Families, "It's who we are, it's what we do."
For more Information call 1-800-450-8108