Riverhead community awareness program, INC. (cap) mental health awareness training initiative 2021 FOA SM-21-007 - riverhead cap is proposing a mental health awareness training (mhat) program to…

Riverhead community awareness program, INC. (cap) mental health awareness training initiative 2021 FOA SM-21-007 - riverhead cap is proposing a mental health awareness training (mhat) program to prepare & train community partners & first responders to appropriately & safely respond to individuals with mental disorders. The populations of focus include school-age children & their families/caregivers, children with a seriously emotional disturbance, veterans & active duty service members & their family members, senior citizens, adults with a serious mental illness, & individuals with CO-occurring disorders, residing within the geographical boundaries of the riverhead central school district, which at 90 square miles is the largest district on LI, NY. We expect to train at least 366 individuals in adult & youth mental health first aid (mhfa) over the 5 years of the project. We expect to serve an additional 10,000 community members through direct outreach & contact. The specific goals of the project are to (1) train 366 individuals (school personnel, law enforcement, first responders, veterans and armed service members & their families, youth-serving and senior-serving staff) to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental disorders, particularly serious mental illness and/or serious emotional disturbances; (2) establish linkages with school- and community-based mental health agencies to refer individuals with signs or symptoms of mental illness to appropriate services; (3) train law enforcement, first responders, veterans and others to identify a person with a mental disorder and employ crisis DE-escalation techniques using specialized mhfa modules; and (4) directly educate 10,000 individuals about resources available in the community for individuals with a mental disorder. The changing demographics of the riverhead community require that this initiative address cultural & social competencies. There are approximately 16,500 households in riverhead central school district, comprised of: 55% hispanic or latino, 33% white, 9% black or african american, & 3% other races. Approximately 1/3 of riverhead students are new english-language learners and 53% of families live in poverty; 20% of the population is age 18 & under with 25% age 65 & over. Suffolk county has the largest number of veterans in NY with over 2,000 in riverhead. Partner organizations for this project include family service league/east end certified community behavioral health clinic (ccbhc), riverhead central school district, riverhead police dept., riverhead volunteer ambulance corps, NY national guard (counterdrug task force - depts. Of the army & air force), riverhead senior services, & southampton town youth bureau.