Providing Family Support for Parents with IDD
A Practical Guide for Building Family-Centered Services
A new, step-by-step guide designed to help disability service providers build or expand services for parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.
A Practical Guide for Real Programs
This resource turns research, law, and lived experience into clear, usable guidance for planning, launching, and sustaining family-centered programs. It is designed to be used as a planning reference, an implementation roadmap, and a long-term resource for building and sustaining family-centered services for parents with IDD.
Developed by The Association for Successful Parenting (TASP) with national experts and parents with lived experience, and supported by The MENTOR Network Charitable Foundation, this guide is built for real-world use by real programs.
Visit achancetoparent.net or email us to learn more, get on the early interest list, or be notified when ordering opens.
Notify Me When AvailableWhy This Matters
Parents with IDD face unnecessarily high rates of child welfare involvement, not because they can't parent, but because systems often fail to provide the right supports. With the right services, families succeed. This guide shows programs how to build those services.
This guide is more than a manual: it is a practical pathway to building services that protect families, honor rights, and give parents with IDD the supports they need to succeed.
Who It's For
This guide was designed for organizations and programs that serve or want to serve families where a parent has IDD.
Designed For
- Disability service providers & administrators
- Family support & home visiting programs
- Case management programs
- Child welfare-adjacent and community-based services
- Healthcare and coordinated care programs
Especially Useful If You…
- Want to serve parents with IDD but don't know where to start
- Want to strengthen or scale existing services
- Need guidance on structure, funding, and sustainability
- Want to train supervisors and staff on supported parenting
- Need support for funding proposals and planning
What's Inside
A practical roadmap from values to program design to service delivery to sustainability, with 13 major sections, a 250+ page guide, and over 50 pages of appendices and practical resources. Built for real programs, not theory.
Foundations & Perspective
- Beliefs, assumptions, mission alignment
- Centering parent and family voice
Rights & Fair Process
- ADA, DD Act, child welfare context
- Fair, competency-based assessment
- Safety, dignity, and ethical decision-making
Build the Program
- Co-design with families
- Referrals, intake, infrastructure
- Staffing, launch, first 90 days
Service Delivery
- Family-centered, trauma-informed support
- Home visiting, peer support, groups, virtual
- Parenting instruction & complex needs
Sustain & Grow
- Outcomes & evaluation
- Funding & partnerships
- Advocacy & systems change
How Programs Use This Guide
Developed by TASP
The Association for Successful Parenting (TASP) is a national nonprofit with decades of experience supporting parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This guide is being created with national experts and parents with lived experience, with support from The MENTOR Network Charitable Foundation. It is designed for real-world use by real programs.
Be the First to Know
Get on our early interest list to be notified when the guide is available for ordering, and to learn more about how it can support your program.
Questions? Email us at info@achancetoparent.net
