The mission of Iowa Federation of Families
for Children’s Mental Health is:

To link families to community, county and state partners for needed supports and services; and to promote systems change that will enable families to live in a safe, stable and respectful environment.

This mission will be accomplished by empowering families through:

• Information Dissemination
• Information and Referral Services
• Mentoring
• Advocacy Training
• Educating Legislators

We believe that adhering to our mission would result in a system which:

• Includes families and professionals who are willing to dream and take risks to improve the quality of available service and support options.
• Provides increased flexibility in policies and practices of the different systems that serve individuals and their families.
• Acknowledges that most families are "Multi-Stressed"-not dysfunctional...
• The focus of all services and supports should be on the family and childs strengths, not the flaws...planning of services should be a joint effort of family and professionals...parents know their children best
• Acknowledges that families are experiencing normal reactions to their situations instead of being perceived as dysfunctional. when in reality they are experiencing a serious lack of appropriate, accessible, and affordable services.
• Provides entitlement to a range of support services that enable families to keep their children at home rather than place them in out of home programs.
• Recognizes families as knowledgeable about and resources for their children.
• Maintains the integrity of the family with family reunification the goal for most children placed outside the home.
• Provides services or supports to families based on need rather than on the families ability to pay for them.