Saturday, November 23, 2024
11/23/2024
The purpose of the Kentucky AWARE 2018 project is to increase awareness of mental health issues among school-age youth and to support school personnel, parents, and other adults who interact with youth to identify, respond, and refer youth and their families to needed services. In the latest Kids Count Data Book, Kentucky ranks 37th nationally in overall child wellbeing, a drop from last year’s ranking of 34th. Youth in the 3 partner LEAs present with a variety of needs for social and emotional learning, mental health and trauma informed care. All have more than 45% of students receiving free or reduced lunch, rates of out-of-home care are the highest in history, and rates of court and juvenile justice involvement are concerning. The 3 AWARE LEAs, Warren, Bullitt and Henderson, are among Kentucky’s largest districts. Like most of Kentucky, these LEAs contain largely rural to suburban-rural populations. Two of the three LEAs are located in areas designated by HRSA as having a shortage of mental health professionals. In collaboration with statewide efforts under AWARE, the 3 LEAs are taking steps to align school mental health supports and processes with existing schoolwide PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) practices, and are committed to implementing trauma informed practices, Youth Mental Health First Aid training for school adults, and improving social emotional skills for all students. Kentucky AWARE will serve 37,556 students annually through universal, targeted, and direct interventions. Through the provision of training and other supports, the project will impact 375 school administrators, 3292 school staff, and over 1000 parents and community members. Goal 1: Increase the mental health (MH) awareness & literacy of school staff & administrators, parents, agency partners, & community members who interact with school-aged youth by training individuals to respond effectively to youth MH needs Goal 2: Increase statewide capacity and sustainability of the school and behavioral health treatment workforces to implement and integrate trauma-informed principles into practice. Goal 3: Increase access to evidence-based, culturally competent, and developmentally appropriate community- and school-based behavioral health services and supports in each partner LEA. Goal 4: Enhance resiliency among school-age youth by integrating and implementing social-emotional learning skills into the general education curricula and increase family and student engagement. Goal 5: Increase access and use of school-based MH promotion, prevention, early intervention, and treatment strategies by creating or enhancing a proactive multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) in schools, which integrates academic, positive behavior and MH supports to meet the needs of students.
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).
