Tuesday, April 23, 2024
4/23/2024
Gang Alternative, Inc. (GA)’s- Supporting Mental health Awareness, Recognition, and Training (SMART) Program will train a broad cross-section of service providers across various community sectors, inclusive of schools, first-responders, community-based organizations, and faith-based youth-serving professionals who work directly with populations that include at-risk youths ages 12-18 residing in minority concentrated areas in Miami-Dade County. These areas are at high risk based on various risk factors particularly African America, Afro-Caribbean and Hispanic youth exposed to high rates of poverty, crime, and violence. The areas of focus for SMART training based on the Youth-Mental Health First Aid (Youth MHFA) includes the communities of Little Haiti, Liberty City, Overtown, North Miami, and North Miami Beach. These communities have higher instances of unmet mental illness/mental health needs often leading to self-medication involving controlled substances and high co-morbidity between mental health and substance abuse especially in the Haitian community where there is significant stigma associated with seeking mental illness treatment as well as barriers to accessing mental health services due to both language and immigration status. In addition, the most frequent calls to the Miami 211 hotline (the only 24/7 helpline in Miami-Dade County for crisis counseling and information and referral) are for basic needs and mental health/substance abuse issues. The goals of SMART are to: a) increase the capacity of individuals who are a part of and provide services to populations of focus to identify, understand and respond to signs of serious mental illness (SMI) and serious emotional disturbances (SED); and b) through strong linkages between youth serving organizations and service providers; and utilizing Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) compliant outreach/engagement strategies and awareness campaigns to increase the diversity of those trained in Youth-MHFA and to reduce the stigma associated with obtaining treatment for mental health illness. SMART, will implement in-person Youth-MHFA training, an evidence-based mental health awareness training which teaches individuals how recognize the signs and symptoms of mental disorders, particularly SMI and/or SED and how to identify community resources. The program will leverage and expand GA’s United People Lifting Individual and Families Together (UPLIFT) program, team of community resource experts on staff and a network of 25+ direct service providers in Miami-Dade County. Through this two-level approach, SMART will train 500 individuals over five years on how to identify and respond to youth in crisis, as well as ensure a linkage between youth serving professionals and resources are available in the community. SMART will establish a referral mechanism that increases the ability of individuals trained to refer and link youth to mental health resources and services by expanding GA’s UPLIFT’s program scope of service. Once expanded, UPLIFT will serve as the centralized mechanism for SMART trainees to make referrals and access resources for youth who have been identified with SEDs and SMIs.
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).
