Mental health first aid training - behavioral health and developmental services of strafford county, INC., d/b/a community partners, is the designated mental health provider for catchment region 9…

Mental health first aid training - behavioral health and developmental services of strafford county, INC., d/b/a community partners, is the designated mental health provider for catchment region 9 in new hampshire which encompasses all of strafford county. Community partners has offered mental health awareness training since 2014 on a limited basis through the mental health first aid program. This program was developed in australia and is part of mental health first aid international. In the US IT is offered through the national council for behavioral health. The program will assist the community in addressing mental health problems at a community level and provide an important first step to identifying and providing assistance to someone with a mental health issue. This grant will help US to expand this training to various subgroups or population in strafford county such as public safety, veterans and the elderly. Project goals include: 1. Increasing the awareness and capacity of local school districts to recognize and respond to students experiencing possible mental health issues to catch problems before they escalate by a. Training 25% of school staff in a given district in youth mental health first aid year one. B. Increasing to 40% in year two, 55% in year three, 70% year four and 85% in year 5. 2. Increasing the awareness and capacity of local public safety staff, i.e. police, first responders to handle mental health crisis arising in the community and gain the skills to DE-escalate mental health crisis, helping to avoid hospitalization and/or incarceration by a. Training 10% of local public safety staff in the county in mental health first aid for public safety the first year and increasing training by 10% each year. 3. Decreasing emergency room visits for children under age 18 with mental health issues by a. Training 10% of emts and first responders in DE-escalation techniques and proper referral protocols to avoid emergency room visits and increasing training by 10% each year. 4. Reduce the social distance created by negative attitudes and perceptions of individuals with mental illnesses 50% by a. Mental health beliefs and literacy scale survey at three months post training will show a 50% decrease in participants' negative attitudes and perceptions of individuals with mental illness. 5. Develop a post questionnaire that seeks to determine how frequently trained individuals use the skills at three months, six months, one year and two years by a. Analyzing data and developing reporting protocols for information and list of appropriate staff to receive report within first year and reporting by the end of the second year. The program will train 1,887 individuals (year 1: 272, year 2: 391, year 3: 408, year 4: 408, year 5: 408) in strafford county in mental health first aid during the five-year grant period including, youth, schools, elders, law enforcement, first responders and veterans to enable the participants to DE-escalate mental health issues in the community to help avert hospitalization and/or arrest.