Pro action mental health awareness training grant - pro action of steuben and yates, INC

Is the federally designated community action agency serving steuben and yates counties in upstate new york. The agency has 55 years of experience in providing guidance, oversight and leadership to initiatives which address the most prevalent needs in the community. Utilizing this leadership and well-established foundation, the pro action mental health awareness training (mhat) grant will train a minimum of 750 individuals in the USA mental health first aid curriculum (mhfa) in steuben county, over the five-year grant period. Approximately half of these will be trained in the adult mhfa curriculum, and half in youth mhfa, as appropriate to the audience. Currently, pro action employs two long-term staff who hold certifications in youth and adult mental health first aid and have a combined 30 years of training experience in their tenure. The training will target helping professionals such as county-wide school district staff, law enforcement (public safety facility in steuben county), county veteran's administration (VA hospital located in steuben county) service providers, county human services providers, medical care providers, other community partners and the community at large. Many of which have already expressed interest in the training if funding is secured. Pro action maintains more than 250 partnerships agency-wide and will utilize these partnerships to plan and carry out the functions of the mental health awareness training grant. Steuben county community mental health services/center will act as the primary partner with the grant project and offer a full range of outpatient mental health services to the residents of steuben county and are certified by the new york state office of mental health operating under the auspices of the steuben county community services board and the steuben county legislature. They will assist pro action in identifying individuals to receive mental health first aid training, share resources and supports to be those being trained, provide a referral mechanism shared with trained individuals, and work cooperatively with pro action to ensure the goals of the grant proposal are met. Utilizing the evidenced-based practices of US mental health first aid curriculum, individuals who are trained will grow their knowledge of signs, symptoms and risk factors of mental illnesses and addictions, increase their ability to help individuals experiencing distress, and provide local resources for individuals with mental illness or addiction. The pro action mhat grant will provide opportunities for steuben county school districts, law enforcement, medical care workers, human services professionals, veterans, and their families and more, to access the training at no-cost, many of which would not be able to offer the training to staff due to budget cuts and constraints due to the covid-19 pandemic. Steuben county experiences a high prevalence of mental health issues which have continued to increase because of the covid-19 pandemic.