Wednesday, March 26, 2025
3/26/2025
Florida Pathways to Awareness, Support and Services (FPASS) is a partnership between the University of Central Florida (UCF), juvenile justice prevention and intervention agencies, law enforcement/emergency services, and behavioral health agencies to coordinate, strengthen, and expand efforts to provide Mental Health First Aid (Y/MHFA) and Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) training, community-based referral options, and behavioral health education/outreach in 14 circuits across Florida. An interdisciplinary workforce of professionals who interact with high-risk youth (ages 6-17) and young adults (ages 18-25) will be trained. Our population of focus includes youth/young adults "at-risk" for juvenile justice involvement, serious or chronic juvenile offenders, and those who have experienced serious emotional disturbances, mental illness, developmental disabilities, a history of self-harm behavior, or have early symptoms of a mental health (MH) disorder or first episode of psychosis. Project goals aim to (1) enhance MH literacy and skills among parents and professionals to recognize signs/symptoms of MH problems (Objectives: develop comprehensive training/evaluation plans, develop formalized community partners (MOUs), implement Y/MHFA and QPR training, fidelity and evaluation plans); (2) improve cross-system referrals and linkages via the adoption of screening referral protocols across service sectors (Objective: develop MH risk identification/referral pathways, develop cross-system referrals between behavioral heath providers, assess changes in gatekeeper behaviors); (3) improve MH/suicide risk identification and crisis de-escalation techniques to appropriately respond to the needs of high-risk youth/young adults (Objectives: develop de-escalation training and referral plans, develop/disseminate de-escalation and suicide risk resources, deliver de-escalation training, measure changes in MH/suicide risk identification, preparedness, and de-escalation skills among trainees); and (4) increase public awareness/education about MH and community resources via the promotion/dissemination of help-seeking resources (Objectives: develop community outreach/engagement plans, develop disseminate community resource directories and educational materials/resources to increase MH awareness, participation in community events to cultivate partnerships and promote MH awareness). Over the life of the project, 44 unduplicated professionals will be trained to deliver Y/MHFA and/or QPR (12 instructors in Y1; 9 instructors in Y2; 13 in Y3; 10 in Y4). These instructors will train a total of 3,058 unduplicated professionals and parents/guardians (Y1: 427 trained; Y2: 626 trained; Y3: 725 trained; Y4: 741 trained; Y5: 539 trained). At trainings/events, 9,590 help-seeking resources and MH educational materials will be disseminated (Y1: 1,608 resources/2 events/63 trainings; Y2: 1,976 resources/2 events/70 trainings; Y3: 2,140 resources/2 events/63 trainings; Y4: 2,218 trainings/2 events/78 trainings; Y5: 1,648 resources/2 events/57 trainings) and 7,452 de-escalation and suicide risk screeners will be provided. All performance measure tracking, evaluation efforts, and quality assurance monitoring will be performed by UCF evaluators.
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).