Mental health awareness training grant for police officers assigned to the schools - mental health awareness training for strafford county law enforcement officers working in strafford county school…

Mental health awareness training grant for police officers assigned to the schools - mental health awareness training for strafford county law enforcement officers working in strafford county school systems. Utilizing awareness, stabilization and crisis-intervention training, officers will be able to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness, promote mental health literacy, provide early intervention and crisis diffusion, and facilitate connections to mental health services. New hampshire has designated community partners as strafford county's community mental health agency, providing mental health services for immediate crisis stabilization, follow-up, and long-term support. They have committed to partner with US in providing evidenced-based training and service-related resources throughout the life of the grant. Our 13 cities and towns in strafford county have a population of 131,000 with approximately 18,000 elementary, middle, and high school students. The first year of the grant, 20 police officers and sheriff deputies from 11 law enforcement agencies will participate, with the goal by the 5TH year of the grant of training all school assigned officers in the county. Nationally, 50% of all mental illnesses begin by age 14 and youth mental health is worsening with 9.7% reported experiencing severe major depression with 60 % not receiving any mental health treatment. Of the state's ten counties, strafford county is ranked eighth (10 being worse) in both healthy behaviors and health outcomes measures. Fueled by the impact of covid-19 this past year, youth ages 11-17 are more likely than any other age group to score for moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and depression, with over half of that age group reported having thoughts of suicide or self-harm. As schools embrace virtual instruction, 65% of parents surveyed by the new hampshire dept. Of education felt their children's well-being was prioritized, but over half of those responding perceived that their children's stress levels had increased since transitioning to remote learning. The goal of our committed police agencies and behavioral health counter parts is to provide police officers with comprehensive mental health awareness training, implement and improve agencies policies and procedures, and collect, analyze, and review data to improve performance. We hope to increase participation with non-participating schools, promote the program through PSA's and news releases, and transparently report our results to the community.