West Texas Centers MHAT grant would broaden our outreach efforts with MHFA training to 23 rural counties. Our goal is to increase awareness of mental health to the counties we serve. - The West Texas Centers Mental Health Awareness project will provide Mental Health First Aid training to community members in the rural and frontier regions of West Texas that are served by West Texas Centers. This training will provide needed mental health awareness and de-escalation training to our communities and will help community members know how to access needed mental health/substance use disorder services and assist someone in a mental health crisis. Training will be provided to the following populations: local school personnel, higher education personnel, law enforcement, emergency services personnel, veterans, armed services members and families, teen aged youth (ages 15 to 18) and their parents/family members as well as various community agencies and organizations that provide services to youth with serious emotional disturbances and adults with severe mental illness. Training will be provided within the 23 county WTC service area, including the following counties in Texas: Andrews, Borden, Crane, Dawson, Fisher, Gaines, Garza, Glasscock, Howard, Kent, Loving, Martin, Mitchell, Nolan, Reeves, Runnels, Scurry, Terrell, Terry, Upton, Ward, Winkler and Yoakum counties. West Texas Centers plans to provide Mental Health First Aid training to at least 140 community members in Year 1 of the grant and up to at least 240 community members in Years 2 through 5 of the grant. West Texas Centers plans to create and implement a Mental Health Awareness Coordinator position that will assist in marketing for MHFA within the WTC service area, as well as provide MHFA training. We will market for and provide MHFA training (Youth, Adult and/or Teen) within our 23 county service area to increase the mental health literacy of our communities and increase the number of community members who can identify professionals, agencies and/or resources within our community that can help individuals with a mental illness or addiction.
