AMCHP > Programs & Topics > Family Involvement & Leadership > Project Areas > Family Scholars Program

Family Scholars Program

What is the Family Scholars Program?

The Family Scholars Program (FSP) represents an opportunity to identify, encourage and train family leaders. This 10 month program strives to provide Family Scholars with the knowledge, tools and resources to enhance their development as family leaders, and to promote policies, programs and systems at the national, state and/or local-level that address important issues impacting the health and well-being of women, children and families, including children and youth with special health care needs.

The FSP involves continuous and distance based learning. Components to deliver the program include:

Individual Development Plan
Topic specific conference calls
Mentoring – individual and group
Peer coaching and networking
Program readings
Topic specific activities
Attendance at the annual conference

Topics relevant to family leaders will be the focus for the year. For a list of topics click here.

Program Objectives

By the end of the Family Scholarship Program participants will:

Gain a greater understanding of Title V and how it works in their state or territory
Increase their involvement in Title V within their state or territory in an advisory, voluntary or staff capacity
Learn strategies to engage in Title V programs
Identify knowledge and skills associated with the seven Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Leadership Skills
Widen their network of family leaders, parent professionals, MCH and CYSCHN professionals
Receive mentoring from experienced family leaders (Family Mentors)
Increase individual knowledge in MCH Leadership Competencies
Develop a relationship with elected officials at the local or state level
Increase their understanding of AMCHP and its programs
Increase their understanding of current and emerging issues impacting women, children and families at the national level
Provide feedback on how to improve the Family Scholars Program

Program History

For more than fifteen years, AMCHP has supported family scholars to participate in the conference, with the program steadily growing. Families contribute invaluable insight and experience to AMCHP programs and policies concerning maternal and child health, and children and youth with special health care needs. Within AMCHP, families advise on the development of publications and programs, and also serve on AMCHP committees and the Board of Directors. Families who have attended the conference consistently praise the value of the conference as a way to network with other families and Title V programs, and to understand more clearly how Title V makes a difference in the lives of children, youth, families and communities.

Announcements

The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, with support of HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, will award scholarships to family leaders to attend the 2013 AMCHP Annual Conference through the Family Scholars Program. For more information on the conference, visit www.amchp.org/conference.

The application period for the 2012-2013 program is closed.

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