Lerner, Esther P.

Marquis, Janet

Santelli, Betsy

Turnbull, Ann P.

KU ScholarWorks

Topic: Parent to ParentBOTTOM  LINETIPSSantelli, B., Turnbull, A., Marquis, J., & Lerner, E. (1995).  Parent to Parent programs:  A unique form of mu-tual support.  Infants and Young Children, 8(2), 48-57.Based on mail surveys returned from 48 states, there are 450 active Parent to Parentprograms with an estimated 25,000 parents participating.  Programs range in sizefrom a few parents to several hundred families.  The average program provides sup-port to about 19 families.  The programs operate often with minimal budgets and arestaffed mostly by volunteer parents.  Slightly less than half have a paid coordinator.The vast majority are cross-disability.Be proactive in locating a local or state Parent to Parent programs.Use the U.S. map on the Beach Center website to find the contact informationfor local and state programs.Collaborate to develop and expand state and local Parent to Parent programs.KEY FINDINGS Parent to Parent programs help match parents who would otherwise not havefound each other.Such a match is often reciprocal in nature, especially in providing informationaland emotional support.Data from the survey indicate that 78% of the directors of Parent to Parent pro-grams are parents who have a child with a disability.KEY FINDINGScont.METHODOf the families participating in Parent to Parent as referred parents, 85% have achild with special needs who is younger than 12.Referrals to Parent to Parent programs come from a variety of sources, with85% of referrals coming from members of the medical profession.76% of Parent to Parent programs provide training to veteran parents beforethey are matched.85% of the veteran parents said that the training covers a wide range of topicsincluding listening and communication skills, information about the adjustmentprocess, and an orientation to Parent to Parent program goals, activities, andphilosophy.Over 60% of referred parents mention the emotional support of having someonewho shares their experiences as the most important part of their match.84% of the veteran parents indicated that they were serving as a veteran parentso they could give back to the Parent to Parent program.The Beach Center developed a mailing list and approximately 7,000 program/agencies providing services to families who have a family member with a disabil-ity received an invitation by mail to participate in the national survey.In the first phase those responding programs that were implementing the Parentto Parent model by matching a veteran parent with a referred parent received thesurvey for program administrators.In the second phase 30% of veteran and referred parents from each of the pro-grams were selected randomly to receive the survey.RELATEDPUBLICATIONSAinbinder, J., Blanchard, L., Singer, G.H.S., Sullivan, M., Powers, L., Marquis, J., &Santelli, B. (1998).  How parents help one another:  A qualitative study of Par-ent to Parent self-help.  Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 23, 99-109.Santelli, B., Poyadue, F., & Young, J. (2001).  The Parent to Parent handbook:Connecting families of children with special needs.  Baltimore, MD:Brookes.Santelli, B., Turnbull, A., Marquis, J., & Lerner, E. (2000).  Statewide Parent to Parentprograms:  Partners in early intervention.  Infants and Young Children, 13(1),74-88.Singer, G.H.S., Marquis, J., Powers, L., Blanchard, L., DiVenere, N., Santelli, B., &Sharp, M. (1999).  A multi-site evaluation of Parent to Parent programs forparents of children with disabilities.  Journal of Early Intervention, 22(3),217-229.This research was conducted in collaboration with the Beach Center on Disability.It was funded by the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Families ofChildren with Disabilities of the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation andResearch (H133B30070) and private endowments.  For more information, contactthe Beach Center on Disability at 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, 3111 Haworth Hall, TheUniversity of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045-7534. Phone: 785-864-7600. Email:Beachcenter@ku.edu. Website: www.beachcenter.org.Permission granted to reproduce and distribute this research brief.Please credit the Beach Center on Disability.

Parent to Parent Programs: A Unique Form of Mutual Support

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Parent to Parent Programs: A Unique Form of Mutual Support

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