Thursday, December 26, 2024
12/26/2024
The Pacific County Health and Human Services Department was awarded a three year Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT) grant in the amount of $125,000 per year for three years from the SAMHSA. The project goals are to increase awareness and skills of service providers to more effectively identify and de-escalate mental health crises, and to improve communication, use of resources, and referral mechanisms between partners and behavioral healthcare providers. Objectives of the project include training of 106 adults in Adult and/or Youth Mental Health First Aid, 20 law enforcement partners in Mental Health First Aid for Public Safety, and 8 law enforcement officers in Crisis Intervention training each year, for a total of 444 individuals trained over the 3-year grant period. The project will also provide support to agencies to adopt policy regarding mental health awareness training and will develop and distribute resource and referral information to providers and the general public. The Pacific County MHAT project provides evidence based training (Mental Health First Aid for both adults and youth, Mental Health First Aid for Public Safety, and Crisis Intervention training) for staff and volunteers from each of the following stakeholder groups: 1) Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Criminal Justice partners, 2) Coast Guard and other Veterans Groups, 3) Schools and Youth Serving Organizations, 4) Healthcare Providers, and 5) Other Social Service Providers. Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA), Mental Health First Aid for adults (MHFA), Mental Health First Aid for Public Safety (MHFA-PS), and Crisis Intervention (CIT) trainings will be provided throughout the county in one of three ways: 1) Targeted, on-site trainings that will be hosted by schools, hospitals, law enforcement, and other agencies with a large number participating staff/volunteers; 2) General/centralized community based trainings advertised to the public and smaller organizations within the county; and 3) By funding attendance of law enforcement officers at state sponsored CIT trainings, as available throughout the contract period. All services provided under the Pacific County MHAT will be provided in Pacific County, WA. Pacific County has a population of just under 21,000 and is located in the far southwest corner of Washington state.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).