Enhancing family advocacy networks: an analysis of the roles of sponsoring organizations

Family participation in shaping system reforms in children's mental health has increased over the past ten years. In 1990 the National Institute of Mental Health funded the development and enhancement of 15 statewide advocacy organizations that were to be controlled and staffed by families of children who have serious emotional disorders. These family advocacy organizations had three major goals: to establish support networks, to advocate for service system reforms, and to develop statewide family advocacy networks. Seven family advocacy networks worked with sponsoring organizations because they needed assistance and/or could not receive funding directly. State and local chapters of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and the National Mental Health Association served in this capacity. Because there were no guidelines to educate sponsoring organizations about their interorganizational roles and responsibilities, staff of some sponsoring organizations used approaches that were supportive and effective, while staff in other organizations used methods that were counterproductive. The information and recommendations discussed in this paper are based on evaluation data and observations of the relationships between seven sponsoring organizations and family advocacy groups over a three-year period. This paper proposes a conceptual framework that includes: (1) a clear definition of the sponsoring organization's roles, and (2) an analysis of the advantages, limitations, and critical issues for the sponsoring organization.