Sunday, May 11, 2025
5/11/2025
Mental Health Awareness Training in Linn, Benton, Lincoln Counties - Mental Health Awareness Training in Linn, Benton, Lincoln Counties is an initiative of the Oregon State University Center for Health Innovation (OCHI). We are proposing to offer two types of mental health awareness trainings (Youth Mental Health First Aid [YMHFA] and Question, Persuade, Refer [QPR]) to adults who work with school-age youth in Linn, Benton, and Lincoln Counties in Oregon. Trainees may include teachers, foster parents, clinicians, public safety or law enforcement, other emergency service providers, parents, or community-based organization staff members. The population of focus is (K-12) school-aged youth. Our program seeks to fill existing gaps in the region by providing evidence-based mental health awareness training, accurate and specialized resource guides, and by bolstering improvements to local referral processes and networks. Our team brings committed, trusting partnerships with local community organizations, including Trillium Family Services (a local provider of youth mental/behavioral health services), Linn, Benton, Lincoln System of Care (a self-described "collaborative network of problem solvers" who serve children with complex needs and their families). In keeping with the SAMHSA mission, our mission for this program is to reduce the impact of mental illness and substance abuse on our tri-county region. Goals of the program are to (1) Increase the number of adults who work with youth in Linn, Benton, and Lincoln counties who are trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental disorders, to respond safely and appropriately, and to refer to community resources; (2) Establish and further strengthen referral linkages between tri-county community partners (e.g., schools or community-based organizations) and mental health care providers to ensure individuals with mental illness receive appropriate services; and, (3) Promote community resources that are available for children and youth with a mental disorder. We believe that the activities of this program will significantly improve the regional landscape for youth mental/behavioral health. By the end of the five-year project period (09/29/2026), our team will have trained (1a) 800 adults who work with children/youth in YMHFA; and (2a) 1100 adults who work with children/youth in QPR, with at least 50% of YMHFA and QPR trainees demonstrating increased confidence in (1b, 2b) recognizing and (1c, 2c) responding to signs and symptoms of mental illness/crisis in youth. Towards improving referral networks, we will have (3) engaged in existing bi-weekly tri-county provider network meetings; (4) increased from 3 to 8 the number of regional organizations who are collaborating on improvements to the referral and tracking mechanisms; and (5) convened/provided 8 referral Quality Improvement sessions. Finally, towards promoting community resources, we expect that (6) 1000 unique users will have accessed online resource guides, and (7) we will have disseminated 17,500 mental health awareness graphic novels to middle-school aged youth.
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).