Focus group to aid parents of learning disabled children

A focus group will be in Clovis on Wednesday to help parents of learning disabled children discover what resources are available to them.

Mental Health Resources in Clovis will host a focus group meeting held by Families ASAP, a New Mexico organization that helps families obtain resources and services that they need, according to Alberto Ortega, a statewide family coordinator with the organization.

The purpose of the focus group, Ortega said, is to determine whether area families are receiving the services they need for their children from mental health service providers.

“We have all the MCOs (managed care organizations) saying that everything’s fine and that they’re serving everyone, and that nobody’s being left out, and we’re just trying to find out if that is true,” he said. “We want to see what services are needed in different communities, what resources are lacking, what’s working. It’s not just to find out what the bad things are, but also what’s working; what’s happening in these communities; what kind of help are people getting?”

Ortega said another purpose of holding the meeting is to give the families the means to procure necessary mental health services, and to let them know that they have options.

“The purpose of doing that is, again, to empower the families and to help them learn how to advocate for themselves and how to obtain the services that they need. We pretty much hold their hands and explain to them, ‘OK, this is what they’re asking for, and these are the different ways we can accomplish that,’” he said. “We always listen to what the families have to say, so we always let them make the final decision. We try to explain to them what the different options are, then once they say, ‘I would like to go for this one,’ we go for it together.”

According to Ortega, Families ASAP is holding focus groups across the state, after which they will bring the results to service providers and insurance companies to inform them of the needs of families.

Lacy Keith, a counselor with Mental Health Resources, stressed the importance of families knowing the resources they can utilize.

“Overall, I think this event is important because I want the families in our area to know what resources — not just what Mental Health Resources provides — but what resources are available in the community, so that they feel confident that they’re doing everything that they can for their child to give them a brighter future,” she said.

The Families ASAP focus group meeting will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Mental Health Resources, 1100 West 21st Street in Clovis.

Information about the meeting is available by calling 575-769-2345.