Parents and Teachers as Allies is an in-service program, based on the NAMI booklet of the same title, which helps educators, school administrators, and parents collaborate effectively to recognize early onset mental illness in children and adolescents.

NAMI National: Parents and Teachers as Allies Link

NAMI is expanding the existing NAMI Parents and Teachers as Allies In-Service Mental Health Education Program for school professionals, which has been piloted by NAMI leaders in a number of states. The program focuses on helping school professionals and families within the school community better understand the early warning signs of mental disorders in children and adolescents and how best to intervene so that youth with mental health treatment needs are linked with services.

The program responds to the recommendations included in Goal 4 of President Bush’s New Freedom Commission report on mental health that call for schools to play a larger role in the early identification of mental disorders in children and in linking them to
appropriate services.

Darcy Gruttadaro, Director of the NAMI Child and Adolescent Action Center, and Joyce Burland, Ph.D., author of Parents and Teachers as Allies and Director of the NAMI Education, Training and Peer Support Center, will co-direct the new program. The in-service presentation and school-based education program for parents and caregivers is based on a toolkit developed by Dr. Burland and Marcia Mathes, Chair of the Child & Adolescent Committee for NAMI Florida. Ms. Mathes has presented this program to school professionals as part of several in-service trainings in Orange County, Florida (the 12th largest school district in the country).

As part of the expansion of the program, NAMI is building two additional program modules. The first module will instruct grassroots family leaders about effective outreach to schools and the second will include a presentation on early warning signs for parents and caregivers within the school community.

Dr. Burland developed the training component and the first training of family advocacy leaders began in November 2005. Over the next four years, the program will target public schools in urban, suburban, rural, frontier, and culturally diverse communities. The toolkit was developed to be culturally sensitive and appropriate for culturally and racially diverse communities. It will also include a Spanish language version.