Sunday, May 11, 2025
5/11/2025
Worcester County Mental Health Awareness Training - L.U.K. Crisis Center, Inc. (LUK) proposes to heighten awareness of mental health issues throughout Worcester County, Massachusetts, focusing on under-resourced communities outside of the three major urban areas. The population of focus for LUK’s Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT) project includes youth and adults who reside in the 57 smaller municipalities in Worcester County and have a serious mental illness and/or a serious emotional disturbance. We will use the evidence-based Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) curricula, along with appropriate supplemental modules (e.g., public safety, military) to achieve the goals of the project which are to: (1) Increase the number of law enforcement, school personnel, veterans, servicemembers, families and others in under-resourced areas of Worcester County who can recognize the signs and symptoms of mental disorders in youth and adults, (2) Increase training participants’ knowledge of how to appropriately and safely respond to a mental health crisis, and (3) Increase awareness of community resources among the general public via referrals from First Aiders. We plan to partner with the Central Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association to provide training to law enforcement personnel throughout the targeted communities. We also plan to train school personnel, staff at youth serving organizations, veterans, servicemembers and their families, and the general public. Training will teach participants to recognize signs and symptoms of mental disorders, establish linkages with mental health agencies to refer individuals with mental illness for services, provide training in crisis de-escalation techniques, and educate individuals about available community resources. In Year 1, we plan to certify six new Y/MHFA trainers (in addition to two existing trainers), with four additional Y/MHFA trainers certified in Years 2 and 3, for a total of 15 new trainers. We will offer 20 trainings in Year 1 and 30 in each of Years 2 and 3 for a total of 80 Y/MFA trainings. With an average 15 First Aiders successfully completing each training, we anticipate reaching 1,200 new First Aiders throughout the project (300 in Year 1 and 450 each in Years 2 and 3). The project objectives are: By the end of each training, 85% of First Aiders will report increased knowledge of (1) signs and symptoms of mental illness, (2) how to appropriately and safely respond and access resources, and (3) community resources and how to access these resources. All three of these objectives will be measured by Y/MHFA pre-/post-test. Additionally, by the end of the project, 50% of First Aiders will report making a referral to a community resource.
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).