Tuesday, May 13, 2025
5/13/2025
HWRSD Achieving Mental Health Awareness for Competent, Caring Communities - HWRSD-MHAT, Achieving Competent, Caring Communities, will train 4140 individuals in order to increase community-wide competence and capacity to recognize mental health needs of 2900 school aged children and 1000 transitional-aged (19-24) youth residing in the Western Massachusetts communities of Hampden and Wilbraham. Concern for this population is substantial: 30% of our high school students surveyed in 2019 indicated symptoms associated with depression and 11% reported suicidal ideation. The COVID crisis has added to the emotional toll, with higher rates of absenteeism and psychiatric crisis intervention as students are feeling isolated and disengaged, and school and community supports even more difficult to access. Concerns persist for youth after graduation: 12 young alumni deaths have been attributed to suicide or overdose since 2013. Through HWRSD-MHAT, Hampden-Wilbraham will increase mental health awareness of adults who interact with school-aged and transitional-aged youth across the wide variety of settings and situations in schools and in wider community. It will increase self-advocacy skills and help-seeking avenues for adolescents as they transition to adulthood, and create resource access points for a comprehensive community mental health vision from prevention to recovery. In a five-year plan, the District will utilize a tiered approach and evidence-based programs to train community mental health, SROs, parents, teachers, coaches, youth-serving agency staff and students themselves with skills to recognize, respond and refer when encountering potential mental health needs. More than 800 adults will be trained as Youth Mental Health First Aiders, and over the course of the project, 2700 students and their parents will receive training (Lifelines) to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health concerns for themselves and their peers. 105 counselors, nurses and specialists will be trained in Posttraumatic Stress Management and Psychological First Aid and intensive risk assessment. Programs will utilize a behavioral health framework that is sustainable beyond the funding cycle in order to: engage in a process of workforce skills development for over 500 school personnel, clinical providers, public safety personnel, pre-service educators in evidence-based models of screening, crisis intervention, referral and re-entry protocols, in order to increase the number of youth who receive behavioral health services. We will ensure that those trained are representative of demographics and of key contact points for Hampden and Wilbraham youth, and train students, recent-graduates, parents and community/youth-serving adults to recognize signs, symptoms and interventions that facilitate help-seeking. With strong community mental health partnerships and a strategic public awareness plan, we will install a sustainable, community-wide focus on the behavioral health of young people, and the mobilization of all possible resources to create competent and caring communities. Measurable outcomes include increased numbers of individuals who received training in the selected evidence-based practices, increased numbers of youth referred to mental health or related services as a result of improved capacity to recognize and refer those needing assistance, and protocols that can be replicated by similar communities in our region. We expect to see corresponding reductions in reported risk factors such a substance abuse and self-harm, and increases in those who indicate the presence of at least one adult to whom they would go if they had a problem. Interconnected service delivery will improve for youth with serious behavioral health challenges, and all HWRSD students will benefit from the increased likelihood that they will interface each day with a caring adult who will have the training and tools needed to respond to mental health concerns.
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).