Family & Youth Advocacy, Support & Training

Seeking "WRAP for Youth" Facilitators

The Copeland Center will be training up to 30 representatives to bring the WRAP for Youth concept to youth, families, schools and communities at large. The WRAP training is 3 days in length and will occur in March 2009.

The Wellness Recovery Action Plan curriculum is a strengths based approach that encourages individuals to live well and stay well. The curriculum is individualized and contains core components to wellness, recovery, and resilience. Each Wellness Recovery Action Plan is created by the participant so that it is individualized, flexible and easy to understand. It will help them discover all the things they can do to feel good, stay well and empower them when the going is hard.

This training is provided free of charge with the expectation that you will use this curriculum with youth and families in the upcoming year. Sponsored by the FAST Project (Legal Aid of WV) and the WV Mental Health Planning Council, and WV Mental Health Consumers Assocation; with funding provided by the WV DHHR Division of Children's Mental Health.

Download information and forms below:

Download WRAP for Youth Info

WRAP for Youth Interest Indicator - Complete by January 2, 2009

WVMHPC & FAST present "Wrap for Youth"

Meet the Regional Parent Coordinators

Regional Parent Coordinators have experience dealing with child-serving systems and provide training, assistance and support to other families in need. Click on the "Find Regions" tab, then click on your county to link to your Parent Coordinator contact information.

Left to Right: Region 2 RPC Laurel Haught, Region 1 RPC Dianna Bailey-Miller, Region 4 RPC Deana Cummings, and Region 3 RPC Gloria Shaffer.

Eligibility Criteria

· Child must be 5 to 18 years of age or transitioning to adulthood up to the age of 22

o Legal Guardian agrees to participate

o Child has a Primary Mental Health (DSM-IV Axis I) emotional and/or behavioral diagnosis

· And at least one of the following:

o Child’s level of disability requires multiagency intervention to improve conditions (services from at least 2 or more child-serving systems; one must be Mental Health)

o Child has received Mental Health /Behavioral Health services for at least a year or these services are expected to last for more than a year

Download FAST Program Brochure Here!

	Title	Owner	Category	Last Updated	Size (Kb)
	Family Advocacy, Training & Support - FAST Brochure	Jeanette Rowsey	Adobe pdf document	9/16/2008	112.58	Download

Legal Aid Launches FAST Program for Families & Youth 1-866-255-4370

Governor & First Lady help launch statewide family & youth resource

January 8, 2008--Legal Aid of West Virginia today announced its statewide launch of its new program: Family Advocacy, Support and Training (FAST) at a ceremony at the State Capitol in Charleston. The ceremony included speeches by Governor Joe Manchin and families who have benefited from the FAST program.

Funded by the state Department of Health and Human Resources, FAST is a new statewide program dedicated to assisting and educating parents and guardians to advocate effectively for their children who face the challenges associated with behavioral or emotional health disorders. FAST was designed and implemented last July after Legal Aid expanded its advocacy services to children in a similar small scale pilot program the previous year. The FAST program immediately began providing services on a limited scale last summer in preparation for its statewide public launch after receiving funds from DHHR’s Bureau for Behavioral Health and Health Facilities.

“This program, a great example of partnership between the public and private sector, shows that parents of children with behavioral problems can not only be effective in the success of their own children, but can help other families as well,” Manchin said. “The peer-to-peer piece of the program lets these children know they aren’t alone. This program gives them a supportive community so they will have a greater chance of success as adults.”