Families play at least four important roles that are indispensable to the wellbeing of their relative. The system of care is shortchanging their clients if they do not make it possible for families to play these roles. People with serious mental illnesses do not ordinarily create an extensive support system for themselves. The nature of these illnesses, the lack of social skills, and the prevalence of social stigma means that without the family there is often no real social support for these individuals. They know their unique individual in a way that no one else knows him or her and are a source of invaluable information.
Providers change frequently in the life of the client with the family providing the only continuity.
Whenever a vulnerable person is being served by a service agency, his or her family has the right, indeed the responsibility , to watch over his or her individual progress and feed back to the agency any concerns that they might have. With a deepening recession, competition for scarce dollars for services is growing more critical. Only with a strong alliance between providers, families, and consumers engaged in vigorous advocacy can we hope to preserve our present services and, hopefully, make some critical gains. The interdependence of providers and families is now obvious to all. While their roles may be different, they are equally indispensable to the ultimate wellbeing of people with serious mental illnesses.