Youth Mental Health First Aid Training in West Virginia Public Schools - Youth Mental Health First Aid Training in West Virginia Public Schools This project aims to address a critical need facing communities in West Virginia through the provision of Youth Mental Health First Aid training (YMHFA) to school personnel employed in public schools in the state. We intend to provide training to a diverse array of school personnel, including (but not limited to) teachers, school counselors, support staff, paraprofessionals, and administrators. Given the bevy of mental health challenges facing youth and adolescents nationally and in West Virginia, this evidence-based training provides school-staff important knowledge, skills, and resources to recognize signs of mental illness, de-escalate a child who is distressed, and ensure timely referral to licensed community-based mental health providers, when applicable. Moreover, for every school in which YMHFA is provided, one teacher will be tapped to receive complimentary YMHFA instructor training. This unique feature will help develop and sustain a school culture that is sensitive to students’ mental health needs, greatly aligning with the grant’s aims. Moreover, the proliferation of trained YMHFA instructors will provide boots-on-the-ground support for school staff who may need assistance implementing YMHFA strategies and best practices. The project has several goals and measurable objectives. Firstly, to address this critical need facing West Virginia’s school communities, we intend to train at least 625 unduplicated school personnel in YMHFA, by the end of the project period. Second, to promote sustained school-based mental health resources and school-based support, 25 public school teachers in West Virginia will receive complimentary YMHFA instructor training by the end of the project period. Through providing complimentary YMHFA and YMHFA instructor training to West Virginia school districts, we intend to foster school environments that are sensitive to students’ mental health needs and have the capacity to ensure students receive the clinical mental health resources and services they may need.
