Hope & Courage

Summer 2009

ALAMEDA COUNTY UPDATE

Alameda County has seen a lot of transition in the past year. Tanya McCullom has transitioned into her rightful place as the new Alameda County Family Partnership Program Director!  She is bringing the next wave of energy to the program, and Alameda County specifically requested her promoting to this position. The UACF team continues to appreciate Tanya for her superior work ethics, commitment and compassion towards our children/youth and families. Congratulations Tanya!

Another addition included Regina Simpkins to the Family Partnership team in Alameda County. Regina has been an amazing asset to the team. She brings with her years of experience working in the community on various boards one of which was the MHSA On-Going Planning council. She has volunteered many hours advocating for services for children and adults with mental health challenges in her community as a whole all while raising her family and advocating for her own child’s mental health needs. Welcome Regina! We’re happy to have you in Alameda County.

This summer the Parent Partnership Program in Alameda County is conducting a series of parenting classes called “The Parent Project”.  It is a parenting class that deals specifically with destructive adolescent behaviors such as drug abuse, gang affiliation, running away, etc. The parents are learning a great deal about how to parent a strong-willed child.  Because all of the parents in the class have children who also have mental health disorders; the class has also provided an opportunity for everyone to recognize the difference between strong-willed defiant behavior and mental health symptoms. Parents are expressing more confidence in addressing the more difficult problematic behaviors. Due to the built-in support group parents are learning a lot from each other as well as the curriculum.  Every week we’re hearing great news about how the communication has improved with their youth and they’re enjoying a more peaceful environment.  There isn’t one solution in helping our parents to deal with the challenges of raising a child with mental health disorders; however; The Parent Project is proving to be another tool that we can add to our kit in helping us to cope with the everyday life of parenting a teen.