Mississippi Mental Health Awareness Project for School Personnel (MHAPS) - The Mississippi Mental Health Awareness Project for School Personnel (MHAPS) and its coalition of partners will serve K-12 youth in the North Mississippi region (NMR), a 32-county catchment area that is 91% rural and entirely designated as medically unserved for primary and mental health care, where there are high rates of pediatric anxiety, depression, substance use, and suicide when compared to national and regional trends. Individuals trained: Pre-service and active K-12 teachers, principals/ vice principals, school counselors, nurses, safety officers, and transportation staff who are placed within the 53 NMR school districts. Population of focus: Youth who are K-12 students in NMR schools who have or are at-risk for mental illness or substance use disorders; 51% male, 49% female; 56% white, 38% black; 79% median graduation rate; 22%-39% poverty status; 34% experiencing clinical anxiety, 26% experiencing clinical depression, 32% alcohol use, 6% heroin use, 5% amphetamine use; 12% suicide attempt rate during previous year. Goals: (A) Decrease existing behavioral health disparities among NMR youth by implementing mental health awareness trainings, decreasing stigma, and increasing capacity of the K-12 workforce for responding to youth with or at-risk for mental illness; (B) Decrease existing behavioral health disparities among NMR youth through referral/linking to culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services by K-12 workforce members. Strategies: Establish and expand a MHAPS Coalition; Use the Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) program to certify instructors; Deliver YMHFA trainings to K-12 school personnel in the NMR to identify and respond to students utilizing de-escalation techniques and increase referral/linking of youth to available mental health and substance use resources; Complete regular NMR county-specific mental health and substance use resource mapping and provide resource to YMHFA trainees and public; Increase referrals of youth to local and tele-mental health services by YMHFA trainees. Objectives: MHAPS will train/certify 9 individuals as YMHFA Instructors over the project term who will deliver at least 3 in-person YMHFA trainings in the year following their certification as an instructor; Deliver in-person YMHFA trainings to K-12 school personnel; At least 85% of the individuals trained in YMHFA will self-report (a) an increase in recognition of signs and symptoms of mental health disorders, (b) positive changes in attitudes and beliefs towards mental illness, (c) increase in mental health crises de-escalation knowledge and skills, and (d) increased confidence and likelihood to perform the YMHFA action plan; Develop and distribute county-specific written and electronic mental health and substance use resource guides to 100% of individuals trained for each of the 32 NMR counties; Increase the number of youth behavioral health referrals to regional tele-mental health clinic. Numbers served: 9 individuals will be trained/certified as YMHFA instructors; 2,000 individuals will be trained as mental health first aiders; 10% increase in NMR K-12 students referred to regional MHAPS tele-mental health partner over the project term.
