PHP’s Parent-to-Parent Program (P2P) is unique in that it matches parents of children with most any special need of any age, culture, school district, etc. 

Take the first step to become a support parent by submitting this form.  You will be contacted by phone when we have a potential match for you.  Thanks! Submit your Application to become a support parent

The business of matching families can take some time as we always call the support parent first to see if this is a good time for them to connect with someone.  Sometimes, this requires up to 10 calls, so please know that this isn't something that occurs in an instant. 

Through these special relationships parents come to realize they are not alone in having a child with special needs, that others have successfully navigated this daunting road, and that a larger community of support exists to help guide their way.

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To receive a peer support parent, please call PHP 408-727-5775 so that we may learn about what is most important to you in a connection.

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To become a peer support parent,  visit our Support Parent page under Services for guidelines. 

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Not all peer support parents that we connect have had training but they will have a shared experience of raising a child with special needs.    

Research shows that “when parents are more connected to other families in their communities, their children benefit. Helping networks have a positive effect on parents ability to deal with stress, on mother’s perceptions of themselves and their children, on father’s involvement in child rearing, and on children’s self-esteem and school success” (Family Resource Coalition, 1996). In particular, Singer et al (1999) found that parent-to-parent programs like PHP’s Mentor Program:

• Are a valuable source of assistance for many families of children with disabilities
• Offer a unique form of assistance not typically met by formal service systems
• Help parents make cognitive adaptations to disability in the family
• Help parents become more effective at coping with the demands of parenting a child with a disability while maintaining a desirable family life

Please know that while we make every attempt to locate someone with a similar situation, experience and interest, sometimes we don't have a person that will meet your individual needs.  It may take several weeks to contact other families to create a more specific match.  

There is another resource to access which has been conducting matches for many conditions, especially rare conditions, for many years and this is another alternative. http://www.netnet.net/mums/. The listing of the conditions they have is located at http://www.netnet.net/mums/database.htm.