Dejando Huellas: Creating New Forms of Social Support Among Latino Parents of Children with Mental Health Needs
Linda M. Callejas, Florida Mental Health Institute’s Child and Family Studies and Mario Hernandez, Florida Mental Health Institute working with The Familias Latinas Dejando Huellas, Tampa
Description: This study will examine new social support networks developed by Spanish-speaking parents of children with mental health needs. This is important in an era where Latino migration to this country appears to by growing at unprecedented levels. The Familias Latinas Dejando Huellas of the Federation for Families for Children’s Mental Health (the first Spanish-run chapter in the nation) provides and opportunity to examine how such parents are organizing to find new ways of accessing limited mental health resources and services despite persistent barriers.
This study will use participant observation and semi-structured interviews to make sense of study participants’ perceptions with regard to their involvement in advocacy and self-help in attempting to make service systems more responsive to their particular needs, including linguistic and cultural competence of local service providers. One important focus of the study will document needs and gaps in children’s services identified previously in meetings or anecdotally. The study will include a census of county children’s services providers to assess for bilingual personnel, resulting in the creation of a Spanish-language provider directory. In addition to its local applications, the study has national implications for future research focusing on the inclusion of Latino families within mental health service systems.
Contact Person: Linda M Callejas
Funding for Academic Year: 2005-06