Organizational Readiness Training for Family Peer Supervisors

This FREE 7 hour virtual training is designed to equip supervisors and leadership with the tools and knowledge to effectively integrate, support, and elevate the role of Family Peers within their agency. This training emphasizes the value of lived experience, fostering a collaborative and inclusive work environment, and building a sustainable Family Peer program that strengthens service delivery. Participants will explore strategies to maximize the impact of Family Peers, enhance agency reputation, expand service capacity, and boost staff morale—all while laying the foundation for long-term program success.

This training is for Family Peer Support Worker Supervisors who have fully attended a Family Peer Support Supervisor Training.

6 Social Work CEUs (pending approval)

Trainers:
Francine Lopez, Children, Youth, and Families Department - Behavioral Health Services &

Millie Sweeney, MS, Family-Run Executive Director Leadership Association (FREDLA)

Trainer Bios:

Francine Lopez serves as the Family Peer Support Program Coordinator with CYFD Behavioral Health Services (BHS). In this role, she provides technical support to Family Peer Support Workers statewide and assists in the credentialing process. Francine holds a bachelor's degree in, Integrated Studies with an emphasis in Psychology and is a Certified Family Peer Support Worker. With twelve years of experience providing direct supports and navigating child-serving systems alongside families across New Mexico—and with her own children—she brings valuable lived expertise to her work. She is certified to train using the FREDLA Parent Peer Support Provider curriculum and collaborates with NMSU's Center of Innovation (COI) to deliver training sessions. Although she is based in Taos, at the northernmost tip of New Mexico, she enthusiastically travels across the state to engage in outreach efforts to expand FPSS and to provide support to CFPSWs and agencies offering Family Peer Support Services.

Millie Sweeney, M.S., is the Director of Learning and Workforce Development for the Family-Run Executive Director Leadership Association (FREDLA), a national family-run organization focusing on supporting families of children and youth with behavioral health challenges. Spanning the children’s mental health and child-serving systems, she has over twenty-five years’ experience in navigating systems with and on behalf of families, advocating at both the individual and policy level, and building collaborations with professionals and systems. She specializes in grant and program development, staff supervision and training, parent peer support and family engagement, curriculum development, and systems of care. Leveraging both her clinical experience and personal experience as a parent of two children with behavioral health challenges, she participates as a Subject Matter Expert and Technical Assistance Specialist with regional and national Technical Assistance and Training Centers and consults both nationally and internationally on parent peer support certification, programming, services, and workforce development. She also offers curriculum and training on a variety of topics related to children’s mental health and participates in research and policy groups contributing to the literature and field nationally and internationally. She holds a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology and resides in middle Tennessee with her family.

• Enhance Family Engagement: Equip supervisors with strategies to support Family Peers, fostering more authentic and effective engagement with families.
• Promote Agency Leadership and Trust: Train supervisors to demonstrate the agency’s commitment to inclusivity, collaboration, and empowerment through the integration of Family Peers.
• Expand Service Capacity: Provide actionable steps for recruiting, hiring, and developing Family Peers to build a scalable and high-quality program.
• Improve Workplace Dynamics: Develop strategies for creating a supportive work environment that values the contributions of Family Peers, leading to improved team cohesion and morale.
• Ensure Program Sustainability: Guide supervisors in establishing clear roles, operational structures, and processes to secure the long-term success of the Family Peer program.

This training brought to you through a partnership with the State of New Mexico's Children Youth and Families Department.