Parent Support Groups are made up of parents who are having difficulty with their young people. Many parents find reinforcement and support in meeting and working with other parents who are experiencing the same problems. Such groups may be informally structured or may be organized through local mental health or hospital programs. There are several national support groups which began as local groups, and expanded as more and more people benefitted from involvement with them. The following are national support organizations which have local affiliates throughout the country.
Meetings are free, anonymous and confidential.
It is funded by memberships, group registrations, sales of materials, workshops, contributions, grants and fund raising programs. Community-Wide Parent Action Groups are organizations addressing several different community areas such as parent and school education, legislation, drug paraphernalia availability and court watching. In some areas, several established community parent groups have joined together to form a Community Parent Coalition. Adolescent tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug abuse is a problem which is dealt with most successfully when all facets of the community are willing to address it. Entire community involvement is a powerful way to change the environment in which young people mature.