Monday, May 5, 2025
5/5/2025
Mental Health Advocacy Program - DePelchin Children’s Center (DePelchin) will launch the Mental Health Advocacy Program (MHAP) in twenty-six counties in Southeast Texas, including the Greater Houston Metropolitan Area. Community members serving as Mental Health Advocates will be trained in evidence-based mental health awareness and intervention curriculum to recognize, respond, and refer based on individual clients’ mental health needs. Veterans and youth, both of which have unmet mental health needs, have been identified as the primary population to be served through MHAP. According to the Veterans Administration, the percentage of serious mental illness (SMI) among veterans using the VA system in the Houston area is 29.6% and more than 20 veterans commit suicide each day. In 2010, SAMSHA estimated that only 50% of returning service members seek help. For youth age eight and seventeen, SAMSHA reported that 11.3% experienced Serious Emotional Disturbances (SED). Additionally, in 2013, 11.3% of adolescence age twelve to seventeen experienced a major depressive event and 10.1% of high school age youth in Texas indicated that they attempted had suicide in the previous twelve months (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). To meet the needs of veterans and youth, community members will be trained in the evidence-based Mental Health First Aid or Question, Persuade, Respond curriculums. Once trained, Mental Health Advocates will be prepared to deescalate immediate situations as well as guide individuals and families to appropriate services after the crisis has passed. DePelchin will partner with non-profits and schools working with the target populations. During each year of the grant, DePelchin will train 585 community members as Mental Health Advocates for a total of 1,755 trained advocates over the three years of the project. Mental Health Advocates will not take the place of actual mental health providers or services. Their role is to be able to identify immediate crisis situations and direct the family or individual for further care. Mental Health Advocates are a crucial piece of the treatment puzzle because they are firsthand witnesses when symptoms manifest or during moments of crisis and they are able to respond immediately. In the school age population, this is important because school staff and community volunteers often encounter behaviors that are different than what their parents or families may observe. Within non-profits serving veterans, those working with the identified population are often peers or other military personnel who are able to gain the trust of their comrades. DePelchin’s goals for the MHAP project include: empowering community members with tools to recognize and immediately respond to mental health crises in youth and adult populations; decreasing risk of suicide among veterans and youth populations through a focus on crisis intervention; addressing possible mental health crises in youth exposed to recent flood and school violence related traumas; provide referral information to families of young children who are beginning to show signs of behavioral health issues; and filling the gap of mental health service needs in youth and veteran populations.
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).