What is Mountain State Parents Children and Adolescent Network?

Mountain State Parents Children and Adolescent Network (MSP-CAN), Incorporated, is a private non-profit, family-run organization that improves outcomes for children with serious emotional disorders and their families. MSP-CAN improves outcomes for children and families by increasing access to comprehensive, coordinated, and individualized care that is child-centered, family-focused, and strength-based.

When children with serious emotional disorders receive individualized, strength-based care provided in partnership with their family the following goals are achieved:

  • families remain together
  • children stay in their communities
  • children succeed in school, both academically and socially
  • children abide the law
  • children and their families thrive

What makes Mountain State Parents Children and Adolescent Network Successful?

The Network promotes reforms in the service delivery system through a continuum of interrelated activities that educate and support parent, and inform practitioners, administrators and policy makers.

Training for parents assists them in overcoming the shame, blame, guilt and stigma associated with childhood mental illness. In addition, parents learn about emotional disorders, treatments and their local service delivery system, building hope and confidence and enabling them partner effectively with providers and schools around developing and implementing individualized, strength-based care for their children.

Information for administrators and policy makers assists them in understanding the multiple factors that contribute to the development of emotional disorders, and the need for interagency collaboration and family partnership to achieve optimal outcomes. Through these efforts administrators and policy makers will create interagency collaborative programs that value partnership with families and provide individualized, strength-based care.

The Network sponsors education and training of parents, such as Parents As Advocates training, Individual Disability Education Act (IDEA) instruction, multi-disciplinary team (MDT) training, family involvement facilitation, and Appalachian Culture in the System of Care training. It also provides instruction for parents to themselves become trainers.

Along with the parent support instruction, the Network provides education for practitioners, agency administrations and policy makers, including Family/Professional Partnership education, and Appalachian Culture in the System of Care training.

The Network also plans and conducts research about outcomes for children and their families. Data resulting from this research is disseminated to state and government mental health agencies, and to other concerned parties to demonstrate the benefits of these efforts.

In addition to training, MSP-CAN provides advocacy, to assist parents in overcoming systemic barriers to individuals, strength-based care. Through advocacy, both parents and practitioners learn communication and problem resolution strategies needed to partner effectively.

Is Mountain State Parents Children and Adolescent Network Working?

MSP-CAN has developed a network of parents liaisons to educate, support, and assist caregivers in accessing the multiple service delivery system, inform practitioners, administrators and policy makers in West Virginia. As a result of these liaisons, parents achieve greater visibility, exert more influence over the service delivery systems that serve their children, and operate more collaboratively to promote a model of mental health services that is responsive to the needs of children and families, in the state's urban and rural communities.

MSPCAN
1201 Garfield St.
McMechen, WV 26040