Welcome to the PA Parent and Family Alliance.
Mental health challenges in children are more common than you might expect. In fact, 1/2 of all psychiatric illness occurs before age 14 and 75% by age 24. When a child is struggling, it is up to their parents to help their child manage, and ultimately, thrive. However, in the state of Pennsylvania, finding resources is a challenge in itself. Places that parents normally turn to for information — schools, hospitals, and social services — can often be difficult to navigate and involve long wait times. Moreover, they often don’t understand what parents are experiencing in their quest to support their child throughout their lifespan.
At the PA Parent and Family Alliance, we do. We’ve designed one-of-a-kind, no-cost resources for parents whose children are experiencing mental health challenges because we believe that parents are the best advocates for their children. And, to be your child’s best advocate, you need tools, resources, and guidance. That’s where we come in.
We support parents in three ways:
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1:1 Support from a Family Support Partner (FSP). This unique resource pairs parents with Family Support Partners — professional resource navigators who share the lived experience of managing their child’s mental health challenge. Family Support Partners provide intensive, 1:1 confidential support to parents to work through their toughest challenges, free of charge.
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Support Groups. We host weekly online support groups where parents can connect to share their experiences and advice with one another.
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Information and Resources. We develop fact sheets, articles, webinars, and trainings to equip parents with the knowledge they need to navigate their child’s mental health challenge.
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Our Promise
To You
At the Parent Alliance, we are parents helping parents. Our Family Support Partners (FSP's) are highly-trained professionals. And equally important, they are parents themselves. All Family Support Partners share the lived experience of navigating their child’s mental health challenge.
When you contact the Parent Alliance, you can expect:
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A quick and timely response. Whether you call us, email us, or reach out through our website, we will get back to you within one business day. There’s no waitlist because we know that your child’s wellbeing can’t wait.
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A guide and advocate who is in your corner. When you reach out, we pair you with a Family Support Partner—a professional resource navigator with lived experience who will listen to you, validate what you are feeling, and work with you to identify the best next step to support your child.
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A roadmap that leads to the best possible support for your child. We don’t have all the answers. No one does. But we will partner with you to identify the best next step.
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A true partnership. Your child’s wellbeing will always be a priority, and we are with you through the long-haul. While other services are temporary or cease when your child “ages out,” the Parent Alliance supports you for as long as you need—we even support parents of adult children.
About
Parents
When we use the word “parents,” please know that we understand that all families are unique. We see “parents” as someone who is or has been the primary caregiver of a child or young adult who has social, emotional, behavioral, and learning challenges. “Parents” may include birth parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, grandparents raising their grandchildren, kinship guardians, step-parents, etc.
Included in our diverse definition of family, we welcome two-mom families, two-dad families, single-parent families, blended families, foster families, guardians and families in which a grandparent is a primary caregiver.
We warmly welcome all families inclusively and openly without judgment.
