Friday, April 25, 2025
4/25/2025
Duval County Public Schools Crisis Training PRogram - Duval county Public Schools (DCPS) in Jacksonville, FL, requests funds from the SAMHSA MHAT grant to expand our mental health awareness initiative to train targeted personnel to intervene effectively when students are in the midst of a serious or volatile mental health crisis. We call this project Crisis AWARE because the goal is to provide crisis/suicide prevention awareness training so that any student at any school with a crisis-level mental health concern is quickly identified, the situation is de-escalated, and the student receives the help they need. DCPS has selected LivingWorks ASIST as the evidence-based practice (EBP) for Crisis AWARE. This EBP, used by organizations around the world, has significant research supporting its effectiveness. DCPS will: a) certify LivingWorks ASIST trainers to b) provide LivingWorks ASIST crisis and suicide prevention training to Crisis Response Team members, c) integrate trainers to target at-risk populations such as military-connected families and middle schools where crisis events are high; and d) provide suicide prevention and de-escalation training to parents and caregivers. The proposed program, Crisis AWARE, will provide training to 3 DCPS staff each year for years 1-5 (15 total) to become certified LivingWorks ASIST instructors under the ASIST Training for Trainers (T4T program). These trainers will then provide ASIST training to school-based staff district-wide. ASIST instructors will train a minimum of 100 new LivingWorks ASIST Trainees in each year of the grant, for a total of 500 trained within 5 years. In addition, DCPS has a goal to increase trainings to parents and caregivers in the community and will provide LivingWorks abridged hybrid training; 250 will be trained within the 5-year period. We anticipate at least 2,000 to be served in total. DCPS LivingWorks ASIST-certified instructors are full-time mental health professionals and other trained experts, and hold positions throughout the district. The target population of focus are school-aged children enrolled in DCPS schools, with an added focus on populations at higher risk: 1) students at schools with high instances of crisis activity, 2) students at high-poverty, low-performing schools, 3) students at schools with high military-connected populations, and 4) students in middle school where concerns are highest. Mental health issues can impact anyone, so DCPS will embed LivingWorks ASIST Trainees among the Crisis Response Teams in up to 156 schools.
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).