Recommendation: Education of and participation by parents
What Parents Said...
It wasn’t until [he was] ten-and-a-half
when the Ritalin started working. And the school, prior to diagnosis
of that ADHD, kept saying, “What are you doing? What are you
doing?” Now they’re realizing there’s something wrong
with him and it’s not me. (Oregon)
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I found out by word of mouth from
other parents who have … older children than mine and have
been through and eventually found what they might be able to get.
(Oregon)
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Families reported that, throughout their child’s life, they were
accused and blamed for the behaviors that resulted from their child’s
mental illness. They said that professionals in mental health and other
child-serving systems—including teachers, school administrators,
child welfare workers and juvenile justice officials—dismissed their
parental insights, instead trying to “fix” the parents. This
response further delayed access to appropriate services for children.
Failure to change these attitudes hurts parents and wastes precious time
and resources as children’s needs are misread.
States should infuse principles of a child-focused, family-friendly system
of care into all levels of their systems: direct care, local and state
administrative levels, and policy levels. All systems should engage parents
as partners in service delivery. To more effectively furnish services,
all front line staff in all core agencies—mental health, education,
child welfare and juvenile justice—need to be able to recognize mental
disorders and be fully conversant with child-centered, family-focused
care principles.
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