Provide Mental Health First Aid training to first responders, schools, older adults, veterans, and community members in Stanislaus & Merced counties to improve mental health in the community. - Mental Health First Aid, an evidence-based Mental Health Awareness Training, will be augmented and expanded in Stanislaus County, CA and Merced County, CA to first responders; educators; older adults and caregivers of older adults; veterans, armed services members, and their families; parents and families of youth exhibiting signs and symptoms of mental health issues; and community-based human services staff. Trainings will be offered in either English or Spanish depending upon the participant’s primary language. Total to be trained is 360 annually for a total 1,800 unduplicated individuals during the grant period.
Populations of focus for which the training is intended to help are adults, youth, older adults, and veterans. This includes individuals who are homeless that first responders have repeat contact with, Spanish speaking, struggling in school, are isolated both physically and geographically, and cultural groups for which there is stigma surrounding mental health and mental illness.
Goal 1: Educate individuals in Stanislaus and Merced counties, with a focus on Spanish speaking Latino/a community members, regarding mental illness and community resources available to decrease the stigma associated with receiving services for mental disorders.
Objective 1.1: By January 15, 2022, revise and implement a Mental Health Awareness Training plan utilizing the evidence-based Mental Health First Aid and implement community outreach and engagement strategies to ensure a broad representation of community members and professionals receive MHFA training.
Objective 1.2: By November 1, 2021, all MHFA classroom materials, mental health resources brochures, electronic materials, and flyers will be made available in both English and Spanish.
Objective 1.3: By October 1, 2021, bi-lingual and bi-cultural Spanish-speaking trainers will be available to conduct both MHFA Adult Spanish and MHFA Youth Spanish as requested by program partners. Staff are currently in place under the FY18 MHAT grant to the agency.
Goal 2: Increase the number of evidence-based Mental Health First Aid trainings offered in Merced and Stanislaus counties, which will result in an increased number of individuals trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental disorders.
Objective 2.1: Increase the number of MHFA-certified trainers in Stanislaus and Merced counties by training 3 new trainers to deliver Adult and Youth MHFA by June 30, 2023.
Objective 2.2: Offer MHFA training an average of 2 times per month for the 60 month grant period.
Objective 2.3: By September 30, 2026, grant funded trainers will have trained an average of 360 individuals annually for a total of 1800 unduplicated individuals trained.
Goal 3: Enhance the linkages with both school and community-based mental health agencies to refer individuals with the signs and symptoms of mental illness to appropriate services.
Goal 4: Increase the number of first responders (law enforcement, fire, EMS, 911 dispatchers), downtown small business owners, elementary and secondary educators, veterans, older adults, and caregivers/parents trained in Mental Health First Aid to improve their ability to identify persons with a mental disorder and employ crisis deescalation techniques.
