The Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) will implement the Youth Mental Health First Aid Project, training teaching and administrative staff of at-risk adolescent students within its Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) programs, in HEC Academy, and in member school districts, in the evidence-based Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) program model. In addition, CES will work with organizations that support military families to offer YMHFA to parents and guardians of youth in military families. These families often experience the stress of separation for military deployments and other duties. Throughout the lifetime of the project we will train over 625 educational administrators, teachers, and support staff who work with at risk youth in the statewide DYS programs, at CES’ HEC Academy, in CES’ member school districts in Western MA; and parents/guardians of youth from military families in Western MA.
-In Year 1, we will train 10 DYS educational administrators, 25 HEC Academy staff, and 25 CES member school district administrators and staff.
-In Year 2, we will train 70 DYS educational administrators and teachers, 200 school administrators, parents and staff, including 25 parents of youth in military families.
-In Year 3, we will train 40 DYS educational administrators and teachers, 5 HEC Academy staff, 250 CES member school district administrators, parents and staff, including 25 parents/guardians of youth in military families.
The YMHFA training will contribute to our overall project goal of improving staff and family members’ knowledge and skills to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental disorders, particularly serious mental illness in youth, and to refer individuals with the signs or symptoms of mental illness to appropriate professional and self-help services. Mental Health First Aid is an internationally recognized program that is listed in SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). The 8-hour YMHFA course is designed for adults who regularly interact with adolescents. As a public education program, Youth Mental Health First Aid has the potential to reduce stigma, improve mental health literacy, and empower individuals. The course teaches participants the risk factors and warning signs of a variety of mental health challenges common among adolescents, including anxiety, depression, psychosis, eating disorders, and substance use disorder. Participants do not learn to diagnose, nor how to provide any therapy. Rather, participants learn to support youth developing signs and symptoms of a mental illness or in an emotional crisis by applying a core five-step action plan. The YMHFA training also addresses the role of trauma as a risk factor for mental illness and many of our DYS and HEC Academy students have experienced significant trauma in their young lives. CES will partner with Clinical Support Options, ServiceNet, DYS Clinical Staff, Hampshire Veterans Agency, HEC Academy staff, and CES school districts to provide this training.