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Parenting & Families

UCP’s Parenting Channel provides information and resources for your family on living with disabilities and learning together.

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Parenting & Families

Family Support / Respite

Parent to Parent: How to Create Your Own Local Program

Parent to Parent programs provide emotional and informational support to those whose family members have a disability by matching a referred parent in a 1-1 relationship with a “veteran” parent who has met the challenges of disability in his or her own family. In 1971, volunteer parents in Omaha, Nebraska, started this program, which spread throughout the United States.

Characteristics of the Parent to Parent Program:

  • Program size can range from very small programs staffed only by volunteers that match a few veteran parents with a few newly referred parents, to large statewide programs that make hundreds of parent matches each year and that are staffed by many paid employees.
  • Most provide parent matches that cross disabilities but a few programs make matches around one specific disability only.
  • While most referred parents have a child between birth and age 12, more Parent to Parent programs are matching around issues of older family members who have special needs as well.)
  • Parents often refer themselves to a Parent to Parent program, but friends, relatives, teachers, service providers, medical workers, and others may also refer parents to the program, if they first have permission from the parent.
  • Parent matches are based on similar disability, family issues, parent/child ages, family size, language spoken, and personality and communication styles. Programs often take into account a variety of factors to make the best possible match.
  • Each match is made individually and the parents decide how many times they want to be contacted by the veteran parent and for how long.
  • The support typically provided through a 1-1 match includes empathic listening, mutual problem solving, sharing information and tips about community resources, caring for the child with special needs and offering hope for the future. The veteran parent serves as a reliable ally and “tour guide” for the referred parent. Many Parent to Parent programs also offer activities for other family members as well.
Guidelines for Starting a Parent to Parent Program:
  • Know that you don’t have to start from scratch. Established Parent to Parent programs have excellent information as well as training materials for starting a new program. There are more than 650 local programs in the U.S. today, with at least one local program in every state. Currently, 27 states have statewide programs. They are: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
  • Develop a program leadership team. Most often it is parents who develop programs, but sometimes parents working with professionals develop programs as well.
  • Decide whether your program will be staffed entirely by volunteers or sponsored by a service provider agency, disability organization, existing parent group, or other group. If you take the volunteer route, you may find it useful to ask people in the community for advice and assistance. Also, consider asking banks, churches, lodge halls, libraries, and other places to donate space for your meetings or office needs. If you decide to get support from sponsors, you could ask for space, donated initial costs, professional staff availability for training help, referrals, and assistance with fund raising. Establish a system to match parents. You will need a local telephone number, preferably available at all times, that potential program parents can call. Use an answering machine, if necessary. Appoint someone to coordinate incoming referrals and establish matches. Recruit and train a group of veteran parents who will be available to be matched with parents referred to the program. Generally, Parent to Parent programs offer 6-20 hours of training to veteran parents before they are first matched with newly referred parents. Many programs also offer ongoing training activities for veteran parents.
  • Develop a record-keeping system for documenting referrals and matches.
  • Let people know about your program. Use flyers, brochures, word of mouth, family stories, newspaper articles, radio announcements, to promote the program.
  • When the referral and matching activities are wellestablished and you have a core group of trained, veteran parents, then consider adding other program activities, such as ongoing training for veteran parents, activities for other family members, social gatherings, advocacy training, and training for professional service providers in the community.

For more information, please contact Parent to Parent at the information below or find your local program:

Parent to Parent
Center on Family and Disabilities
311 Haworth Hall, University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045
(785) 864-7600
(785) 864-7605

Source: The Beach Center