Mental health awareness training for law enforcement, first responders, educators, and caregivers - lifeline connections will provide mental health awareness training for law enforcement, first…

Mental health awareness training for law enforcement, first responders, educators, and caregivers - lifeline connections will provide mental health awareness training for law enforcement, first responders, educators, and caregivers in clark county, southwest washington to help individuals appropriately respond to mental health crises. School-age children with mental health disorders, adults and transitional aged youth with mental health and CO-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, and adults with serious mental illness will receive help when needed. The project includes hiring a full-time program coordinator who will be trained in evidence-based mental health first aid/youth mental health first aid. They will facilitate in-person trainings on a weekly basis at the clark county community health center and on-site at local schools, police and fire stations, emergency medical services offices, and group care homes. The goal is to increase the capacity of teachers and school personnel, law enforcement, first responders, and caregivers of adults with SMI to safely respond to individuals in a mental health crisis and to refer the populations of focus to appropriate treatment and support resources in clark county. Project objectives: - for each year of the project, a minimum of 90% of the individuals trained in all sectors will report an increase in knowledge around the signs and symptoms of mental illness and strategies used to help a person in crisis; - by the end of each project year, we will train a minimum of 300 professional educators on how to respond to a youth mental health crisis; - by the end of each project year, we will train a minimum of 450 law enforcement officers in mental health first aid including how to appropriately screen and refer individuals to the crisis stabilization & wellness center; - by the end of each project year, we will train a minimum of 300 EMS and/or fire response personnel in mental health first aid and how to appropriately screen and refer individuals to the crisis stabilization & wellness center; - by the end of each project year, we will train a minimum of 110 adult care home providers in mental health first aid. The project will train 1,160 individuals each year for a total of 5,800 people over the 5-year project period.