Advocacy
The Family Partners of Hudson County is a private, non-profit organization that provides the direct support to parents, family members and caregivers of children with complex emotional, mental and behavioral health needs.
We provide advocacy in many forums for our family’s needs. We also offer coaching in techniques of self-advocacy. In addition, we advocate for families as a whole with the various systems which include:
Juvenile Justice, Division of Child Protection and Permanency DCP&P (formerly DYFS),
Division of Children's System of Care, DCSOC (Formerly Child Behavioral Health Services-DCBHS),
Education and Medicaid
All families who are dealing with a mentally, behaviorally or emotionally challenged child are invited to partake in our annual letter drive to our local government representatives. Visits to these representatives and appearances before Senators and Congressman, are made by interested parents with guidance from the FSO. This ensures that the family voice is heard at all levels.
Support & Discussion
The Family Partners of Hudson County offers support groups at hour Hudson office as well as other locations throughout the county. Families will meet others who understand exactly what they are going through. Every effort is made to keep the setting of these meeting warm and open, so that the discussions taking place are meaningful to all participants.
Peer-to-Peer Support
Families receiving care management services through Hudson Partnership UCMO are eligible for peer support. Parents and caregivers are matched with specially trained Family Support Partners who understand what these families are experiencing and encourage their progress.Our Family Support Partners have first-hand knowledge of the system. They can help families navigate the system because they have done it for their own children. Family Support Partners are there to make sure that the family voice is heard and the family vision is achieved. Family Support Partners walk side-by-side with parents and caregivers to help them through difficult times with their children. Family Support Partners attend Child/Family Team meetings to ease families through the process and help develop an Individualized Service Plan that meets the needs and goals of the family. This ensures that families are full partners in the process.
Youth Helping Youth
The Youth Partnership serves teenagers and young adults 13-21 years of age with or directly affected by emotional, behavioral or mental health challenges.
Individuals must reside in Hudson County and commit to weekly meetings and activities, under the guidance of our Youth Coach. Through positive and supportive peer and adult relationships, teens have come to discover not only that they can make a difference in the world but also that they can make a contribution to it too.
The Youth Partnership has three main goals: to support and encourage one another, to learn more about their unique challenges, and to increase community awareness about teen mental health issues... and to have fun along the way!
Message from the YP members: We recognize the difficulty of being a teenager in today's world. While that alone is challenging, being a teen with unique mental, emotional and behavioral challenges is just that more difficult. Participation in the Youth Partnership of Hudson County gives teens the opportunity to be with others who know and understand these unique challenges, through personal first-hand experience. It provides us with a place to go where we feel comfortable, safe, accepted and understood.