Parenting a child with behavioral or mental health challenges can feel isolating, especially during the back-to-school season. You're juggling IEPs, school refusal, medication side effects, and teacher emails that arrive at 9 p.m. and somehow still trying to get dinner on the table.
Your Weekly Check-In is a relaxed, virtual space just for parents and caregivers like you. There’s no pressure. No prep. No need to clean the house or find a sitter. Just a time to connect, vent, laugh, and remind yourself you're not alone.
🍎 Back-to-School Check-In Series
Tuesday each week • August 19th through October 14th
School can bring out the big feelings - in kids and in parents. This special 9-week series will focus on the rollercoaster that is back-to-school when your child struggles with behavior or mental health challenges.
Whether you're navigating IEP roadblocks, classroom blowups, or just the daily grind of keeping your child regulated through seven hours of school - you are welcome here.
📅 Runs: August 19th to October 14th
🕕 7: 00 - 8:00 pm
💻 Join virtually from anywhere - car, couch, coffee shop, or corner of the kitchen
🎓 For parents and primary caregivers of school-aged children
What to Expect
Your Weekly Check-In is free, confidential, and welcoming. It’s hosted by trained parent facilitators who understand this path because they’re walking it too.
Cameras on or off, snacks in hand, babies in laps, logged in from a driveway while waiting for band practice to end, we’ve seen it all, and it all counts.
This is a space where you can:
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Be honest about the hard days
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Celebrate the small wins
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Ask questions or just listen in
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Connect with people who really understand
There’s no right way to participate. Just your way.
Staying Connected
If you want to keep the conversation going between check-ins, you can request access to our Parent Connect forum - a private, parent-only online space where you can post, chat, and find support anytime.
Why Just One Check-In Series?
We wish we could offer more. But due to limited funding, this Back-to-School series is the only check-in we’re able to host right now.
If you've ever left a space like this feeling a little lighter, or wished something like this had existed sooner, we’d be grateful for your support. Your donation helps us create more of these safe spaces for parents who need them.
💙 Support More Parent Check-Ins – Donate Now »
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What does "inpatient treatment" mean?All mental health treatment that requires full-time or part-time residence in a facility that provides mental health treatment.
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What makes inpatient treatment consent different?Once a child has been admitted to an inpatient treatment facility, either the parent or the child can request a hearing to determine if inpatient treatment is appropriate and necessary. The child will stay at the facility while the judge makes a ruling. This option does not apply to outpatient treatment.
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What about parental disagreement to inpatient treatment?If a parent who has legal custody rights disagrees with the other parent about consent to a child's inpatient treatment, they can file a petition in the Court of Common Pleas, and a hearing will take place within 72 hours of the filing.
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Who can consent to a minor receiving mental health treatment?1. Parents or legal guardians 2. A minor between the ages of 14–17
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Can a parent refuse to allow treatment once a child (age 14–17) has consented?No
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Can a child (age 14–17) refuse treatment once a parent has consented?No
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What happens if a child (age 14–17) takes away their consent?The treatment will be stopped UNLESS a parent or legal guardian gives their consent; in that case the treatment will continue.
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What about children under the age of 14?Parental consent is required for children under age 14 to receive mental health treatment.
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Can a parent say no after another parent said yes?NO
About
Parents
When we use the word “parents,” please know that we understand that all families are unique. We see “parents” as someone who is or has been the primary caregiver of a child or young adult who has social, emotional, behavioral, and learning challenges. “Parents” may include birth parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, grandparents raising their grandchildren, kinship guardians, step-parents, etc.
Included in our diverse definition of family, we welcome two-mom families, two-dad families, single-parent families, blended families, foster families, guardians and families in which a grandparent is a primary caregiver.
We warmly welcome all families inclusively and openly without judgment.
