For parents with disabilities in Vermont, there is new hope and help—with parenting their children and retaining custody. The hope comes from the Vermont Family Support 360 Project of National Significance from the Administration on Developmental Disabilities. This project has become the catalyst for a unique collaboration between the Vermont Agency of Human Services, two nonprofit family support organizations, and Vermont families. It is breaking new ground in family support practice, collaboration, and systems change.

Family support was the original purpose of this project. Parents with disabilities in Vermont, as an underserved population, tend to lose custody of their children at a much higher rate than other parents. It has been often assumed that they lack the ability to parent their children. The Family Support 360 Project serves this population through the key position of local “Peer Navigators” who provide support and system navigation. The peer navigators are parents themselves who either have a disability or experience parenting a child with a disability. They also have experience navigating the Vermont Human Services system.

In practice, peer navigators meet with parents in settings that are comfortable for the parents. They discuss the issues the parents are dealing with and help set up family plans based on issues the parents prioritize. The navigator’s job is not case management. It truly is helping parents and families to navigate through the system and being a supportive peer.

 

Data shows the support being provided is allowing more families to stay intact. While national estimates show that 50 to 80% of parents with developmental disabilities lose custody of their children, less than 5% of the 250 parents served by Vermont’s 360 Project have had their parental rights terminated. Source: Dr. Susan Yuan, Center on Disability and Community Inclusion, UVM.

 

An example of a situation in which this project has helped to create a successful model of support and success for a specific family is highlighted in “Full Circle: The Green Mountain Family Support 360 Project.” This DVD/video production tells the story of J. and her son C. who have a new supported living arrangement through assistance and support from their local peer navigator. Their story is available on DVD through the Center on Disability and Community Inclusion. For more information or to get a copy, contact Susan Yuan at (802) 656-8166.

 This project has, of necessity, created new collaborations. The grant money is administered through the Agency of Human Services (AHS); sub-granted to family support organizations to hire, train, and supervise the navigators; and overseen by an AHS Deputy Commissioner and a parent/peer who is also co-director of Vermont’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the University of Vermont. The Vermont Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, the Vermont Parent Information Center, and Rutland County Mental Health Services employ and supervise the navigators. This allows the peer navigators to be independent of the Agency of Human Services, which helps build trust among the parents served.

Collaboration abounds at local and state levels. At the local level, navigators are hired to work in the region where they live. Vermont has 12 AHS regions with one part-time peer navigator in each region. The local AHS representative who oversees operations in each region, the Field Services Director, works closely with the peer navigator and with the family support organization that employs the navigator. AHS provides in-kind office space within the Agency in each region for the peer navigators. Other collaborations exist between the project and the Vermont Communication Support Project, which provides communication support for parents with disabilities in family court situations and with the local AHS service coordinators. 

 

Another very important aspect to this program is the effect it is having on the system of care and service systems in Vermont. The Family Support 360 Project is teaching regional child protection staff how to better support parents with disabilities through a workshop, Supporting Parents with Disabilities, which wasdesigned by community members, parents with disabilities, and grant staff.

 

Peer navigators assist the Field Services Directors to create and sustain their regional consumer advisory councils and assist parents with disabilities and other consumers to participate in these groups. These councils are one place that gaps in services are brought to the attention of the Agency of Human Services and, often, action steps to address the gaps are taken as a direct result of this consumer input.

 

This project has proven to be extremely cost effective. It is valued by the families because they have someone to help them who doesn’t work for the Agency and who also knows what it’s like to live with a disability. This is a key point as relationships with the Agency may have already been strained. Peer navigation is also being seen as a valuable asset by the system.

 

 

 

As the Director of the Vermont Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, I can say that this project has allowed us to continue to serve many of the families we had been serving. The perspective has changed from a single focus of supporting the family around the needs of the child to supporting the family more holistically.