1. Know that you don’t have to start from scratch. Established Parent to Parent programs have excellent information as well as training materials for starting a new program. There are more than 650 local programs in the U.S. today, with at least one local program in every state.
2. Develop a program leadership team. Most often parents develop programs, but sometimes parents working with professionals develop programs as well.
3. Decide whether your program will be staffed entirely by volunteers or sponsored by a service provider agency, disability organization, existing parent group, or other group. If you take the volunteer route, you may find it useful to ask people in the community for advice and assistance. Also, consider asking banks, churches, lodge halls, libraries, and other places to donate space for your meetings or office needs. If you decide to get support from sponsors, you could ask for space, donated initial costs, professional staff availability for training help, referrals, and assistance with fundraising.
4. Establish a system to match parents. You will need a local telephone number, preferably available at all times, that potential program parents can call. Use an answering machine, if necessary. Appoint someone to coordinate incoming referrals and establish matches.
5. Recruit and train a group of veteran parents who will be available to be matched with parents referred to the program. Generally, Parent to Parent programs offer 6-20 hours of training to veteran parents before they are first matched with newly referred parents. Many programs also offer ongoing training activities for veteran parents.
6. Develop a record-keeping system for documenting referrals and matches.
7. Let people know about your program. Use flyers, brochures, word of mouth, family stories, newspaper articles, and radio announcements to promote the program.
8. When the referral and matching activities are well-established and you have a core group of trained, veteran parents, then consider adding other program activities such as ongoing training for veteran parents, activities for other family members, social gatherings, advocacy training, and training for professional service providers in the community.