This Is Not What I Was Expecting

It's not unusual for parents to be told that their health insurance won't pay for their child's mental health treatment. That can leave a parent in a tough spot trying to cover the costs out of pocket or even worse forgoing the necessary treatment. No need to panic! Today we're talking about how you can get insurance that will cover the therapies your child needs at no cost to you, no matter your income. That's right, we're talking about PH 95! Join Melissa and Christina to get the information you need to get your application started!

https://www.compass.state.pa.us/compass.web/Public/CMPHome/

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

Children come with so much stuff! We're tempted to organize but one Parent Alliance team member has a good reason to not get organized. This week we share some tips on organizing, ideas for helping your child break down large tasks and a surprising downside and we chat a bit about chores. Have a topic you want us to address? Reach out to us at [email protected]

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

When your child suddenly starts acting out at school it can really throw you for a loop. The goal is to figure out what's going on and get them back on track as quickly as possible but the process is so slow. Additionally it really takes a toll on us, a parents. We question everything we're doing. This week we unpack not only ideas on how to help our kiddos but also how to help each other as parents in the thick of things, raising children with behavior and mental health challenges.

Melissa shared a resource from our friends at DBSA to help your child understand and express their feelings. Check out the mood crew here:  https://www.dbsalliance.org/mood-crew/

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

We're never quite sure if we're doing too much or too little for our children. When you're raising a child with a mental health challenge it's even harder to know. Join us for this week's episode when Tracy, Chrissy and Christina share tips they've learned for walking that line between helicopter parent and hands off parenting. We'd love to hear what challenges you're facing. Feel free to reach out at [email protected] Maybe we'll talk about your challenge next!

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

The Parent Alliance offers one on one support to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges no matter their age! Yes, you can give us a call and talk to a Family Support Partner at no cost even if your child is over 18 because, we get it. Our job as parent doesn't end just because our child becomes a legal adult. 

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

As always the team at PaTTAN has excellent resources to help us understand this service. Check them out here: https://www.pattan.net/publications/teachers-desk-reference-extended-school-year-esy/ https://www.pattan.net/videos/extended-school-year-esy/

Questions an IEP team could consider regarding the need for ESY:

• Documented problems with working memory from assessments
• Demonstrated need for constant reinforcement over time, even during the regular instructional day/year
• History from a previous year of losing skills and struggling to regain them after a school break
• Need for constant reinforcement of a behavior support program when a student is at risk of being moved to a more restrictive environment without substantial progress around behavior

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

The holiday break has started and we're already out of things to do to keep our kiddos busy! We're looking for any ideas we can find to avoid hearing the dreaded "I'm bored." Join us as we troubleshoot ideas and inspiration to help everyone enjoy winter break.

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

When you're raising a child who struggles with their behavior or mental health, changes in schedules, large noisy events and activities with lots of pressure are ticking timebombs. Unfortunately all those things come together to make the holiday season the most joyful and hectic time of the year. Join our team as we talk about some of the challenges we face raising our own kiddos who struggle. We'll share how we manage and hopefully give you a few ideas to try out.

How do you manage over the holidays? We'd love to hear!

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community