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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCASSP Events Newsletter December 2014Most people are familiar with the phrase “Pay It Forward,” an expression describing an obligatton to do a good deed for others in response to a good deed that one receives. This classic concept is what Montgomery County Behavioral health/Develop- mental Disabilittes is embracing to develop Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) in schools and com- munittes throughout the county. The inittal “deed” began with a Systems of Care grant the county re- ceived from the state in 2012. The grant was awarded to the county at the same ttme the YMHFA curricu- lum was being piloted in the United States. Montgomery County knew the stars were aligning! Since Mont- gomery County is one of the coun- ttes implementtng Systems of Care, they were eager to embrace YMHFA as a tool that would support their vision of strengthening youth, fam- ily and community partnerships as well as build on cross-system capac- ity. With the county’s goals being to increase mental health awareness and access to services, and reduce sttgma surrounding behavioral health problems, the promotton and devel- opment of YMHFA was the perfect fit! The first step was using the grant funds to have the greatest impact. The county reached out to neighboring Philadelphia County and the Southeast Regional Mental Health Services Coordi- natton Ofce, both of whom had been implementtng MHFA on a fairly large scale to gather “lessons learned” and ideas to help promote Montgomery County’s vision. The grant funding allowed the county to contract with the Nattonal Council of Behavioral Health to offer the YMHFA instructors training for 30 parttcipants. The county’s first priority was to offer the training to school districts within the county. LeeAnn Moyer, Deputy Administrator of Behavioral Health for the county, believed schools were the most likely place to start for a number of reasons. The county has a history of working closely with districts to inte- grate mental health support with educatton. Moyer felt that YMHFA lent itself perfectly to complement and enhance that relattonship. Moyer notes that it is essenttal to teach skills to parents, school personnel, coaches, faith-based leaders and other persons in the child’s life to recognize signs and symptoms of a mental health problem. Moyer reached out to the Montgomery County Inter- mediate Unit (MCIU) to partner in providing outreach, educatton and recruitment of potenttal trainers. In- formattonal sessions were held with su- perintendents, directors of pupil personnel, directors of special educatton, and school psychologists. For the most PA CASSPPA CASSPNewsletterNewsletter Pennsylvania Child and Adolescent Service System Program A comprehensive system of care for children, adolescents and their families Volume 23, Number 4 December 2014 Paying it Forward in Montgomery County By Tricia Maloti conttnued on page 7 Lee Berlinquetie and Eric Weaver, Nattonal Council of Behavioral Health First Aid Instructor Trainers December 2014 Volume 23, Number 4 Tom Corbeti Governor Beverly Mackereth Secretary of Human Services Carolyn Dumaresq Acttng Secretary of Educatton Michael Wolf Secretary of Health Julie K. Hearthway Secretary of Labor and Industry James E. Anderson Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission Children’s Commitiee of the Office of Men- tal Health and Substance Abuse Services Advisory Commitiee Co-chairs Connell O’Brien Gloria McDonald Dennis Marion Deputy Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Stan Mrozowski Director, Bureau of Children’s Behavioral Health Services Harriet S. Bicksler Newsletier Editor Department of Human Services Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Bureau of Children’s Behavioral Health Services DGS Annex Complex Beechmont Building, 2nd floor P. O. Box 2675 Harrisburg, PA 17105 Telephone: (717) 772-7984 Fax: (717) 705-8268 E-mail: c-hbicksle@pa.gov Website: www.dhs.state.pa.us Subscriptton informatton: The PA CASSP Newsletier is distributed exclu- sively in electronic format and online. Subscribe to the CASSP News listserv to receive email nott- ficatton when a new editton is available at hitp://listserv.dpw.state.pa.us/cassp-newslet- ters.html. Access back issues since 2002 by click- ing on the “2011” link. For issues before 2002, contact the editor. Please feel free to print, copy and distribute the newsleiter freely. Youth Mental Health First Aid in Pennsylvania The concept of Mental Health First Aid makes perfect sense and seems so simple that it’s easy to wonder why it took so long atffier the development of medical first aid and CPR for it to catch on. Whenever another person with a his- tory of mental health problems, or some- one who had previously not been identtfied as having mental health prob- lems commits a serious crime (like a school shoottng), is involved in a police incident in a community, or completes suicide, a lot of second-guessing takes place. What happened? How did we not know that something like this could hap- pen? What did we miss? How might we have acted differently? Mental Health First Aid seeks to answer those questtons and help people respond sooner and more effecttvely. Beginning in Australia in 2000, Men- tal Health First Aid has spread to at least 25 countries, including the United States where it is administered by the Nattonal Council on Behavioral Health. In the Janu- ary 2013 “plan to protect our children and our communittes by reducing gun vi- olence,” entttled Now Is the Time, Presi- dent Obama announced a new inittattve called Project AWARE (Advancing Well- ness and Resilience in Educatton) that in- cludes Mental Health First Aid training for teachers (www.whitehouse.gov/sites/de- fault/files/docs/wh_now_is_the_ttme_ful l.pdf). Pennsylvania has been providing training in Mental Health First Aid, includ- ing the youth component, for several years. The Ofce of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services has promoted and helped to fund regional trainings. Various Pennsylvania organizattons and counttes now offer regular training in both regular Mental Health First Aid and the version oriented to youth, called Youth Mental Health First Aid. Mental Health First Aid is an evi- dence-based practtce, now listed in SAMHSA’s Nattonal Registry of Evidence- Based Programs and Practtces. According to the Nattonal Council on Behavioral Health, during the 2013-2014 legislattve session, “21 states passed legislatton or inittated executtve programs related to Mental Health First Aid.” In additton, “states and community advocates have collaborated to find creattve approaches to implement Mental Health First Aid.” Research by the Nattonal Council identt- fied the core components of a successful state inittattve in Mental Health First Aid: • “Clearly communicated need for in- creased knowledge about mental ill- ness and addictton, and related services in the community. • Specific references to the Mental Health First Aid Program, including the need for Mental Health First Aid in- structors. • Dedicated funding to sustain the Men- tal Health First Aid program. • Specific agency leadership to oversee the Mental Health First Aid program, including evaluatton of the impact and reach. • Key stakeholders and agencies included in policy development.” Youth Mental Health First Aid in Pennsylvania is the focus of this editton of the newsleiter, with several arttcles de- scribing the concept and how and where training is happening across the state. It is also important to note that Youth Men- tal Health First Aid is also an important component of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students federal grant being currently being implemented in Pennsylvania, and has also been promoted by the Garreit Lee Smith Youth Suicide Preventton in Pri- mary Grants. Harriet S. Bicksler, editor page 2 December 2014 page 3 December 2014 Help is Available for All Mental Health Emergencies by Kim Finnigan CLEARFIELD – If someone is having a medical emergency, there are classes and training available to teach people how to handle medical situattons. If someone is having a mental health emergency, what do you do? At a Youth Mental Health First Aid class held recently at the Cen- Clear Behavior Health Center in Clearfield, parttcipants learned important skills in how to identtfy warning signs in youth who may be experiencing mental health is- sues, how to react and what to do to encourage a young person to seek addittonal help. The class was arranged by the Clearfield-Jefferson Suicide Pre- ventton Team and Cen-Clear Child Services. Instructors for the class were Mary Brown and Josiah Jones. The class covered common mental health problems including depression, anxiety disorders, psy- chosis and substance use disorders. Brown said Youth Mental Health First Aid training and similar programs for adults were first started in Australia. She said there has been a big push interna- ttonally for mental health awareness and training in how to assist someone having a mental health crisis unttl a professional mental health care worker can arrive. According to Brown and Jones, it can be difcult to tell whether a young person is experiencing a mental health challenge or simply going through the normal changes of that age group. Many symptoms of mental illness, such as moodiness, withdraw, lack of con- centratton and engaging in risky behav- iors, can also be considered part of transittoning from a child to a teen to an adult. The class emphasized how to ap- proach a young person and engage them in conversatton to assess if the youth or young adult is experiencing a mental health issue, or simply experiencing the challenges of growing up. According to informatton presented in the class, in youth ages 13-18, in any given year, 31.9 percent experienced anxiety disorders; 19.1 percent will experience be- havior disorders; 14.3 will experience mood disorders and 11.4 percent will ex- perience substance use disorders. Addi- ttonally, mental or addicttve disorders are prevalent in 22.2 percent of youth in that age category. According to the informatton, as many as 5 percent of children and 8 per- cent of adolescents in the United States have depression. Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health challenges that occur in children and ado- lescents. An esttmated 4.1 percent of youth ages 9-17 will be affected by aiten- tton deficit hyperacttvity disorder and about 3 percent of adolescents in the United States have eattng disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. According to the informatton, many young people with mental disorders do not seek or access any professional help. An esttmated 20 percent of the U.S. populatton between the ages of 18-54 are affected by a mental disorder during a given year and about 57 percent of the populatton will have a diag- nosable disorder in their lifettme. The students in the class were taught how to use the ALGEE mental health first aid actton plan when coming in contact with a young person who may be experi- encing a mental health situatton. ALGEE stands for assess for risk of suicide or harm; listen non- judgmentally; give reassurance and informatton; encourage ap- propriate professional help and encourage self-help and other support strategies. Brown and Jones said the class can be useful when it first be- comes apparent that a youth or young adult is exhibittng signs of emottonal, behavioral or mental health challenges. The class can also be useful in assisttng those who have had long-term mental health issues or a his- tory of serious mental disorders. Brown and Jones said the course is designed to teach every-day individuals methods of assisttng a young person who may be in the early stages of developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis. The class is designed for members of the public, not just for those who work in the mental health field. Brown and Jones said the class is parttcu- larly important for people who have fre- quent contact with youth and young adults, such as parents, school staff, youth group leaders, coaches, police ofcers and volunteers. Reprinted by permission from.the October 16, 2014 editton of The Courier-Express, Dubois. Kim Finnigan is a reporter for The Courier-Express. page 4 December 2014 PA System of Care Partnership Promotes YMHFA by Pat Cambria Mental Health problems are more common than heart disease, lung disease, and cancer combined. In fact, one in five Americans is esttmated to have a diagnos- able mental disorder such as depression, anxiety or substance abuse in any given year, including 13.7 million children. Of those children only a third receives help from formal mental health or substance abuse services. Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) is an eight-hour training course recognized as evidence- based and designed to teach methods of assisttng a young per- son who may be in the early stages of developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis. These training events help to reduce the sttgma associated with behavioral health challenges by increasing mental health literacy and decreasing negattve percepttons surrounding mental illnesses and addictton across communittes. Through the Pennsylvania System of Care (PA SOC) Partnership and we have trained over 549 people in 10 PA SOC counttes since 2012. Some of these train- ings occur during Mental Health Aware- ness Week, while others are held throughout the year at the request of the PA SOC county and the availability of the instructors. We provide the instructtonal training at no cost. The training has been conducted throughout the state with those interested in making a difference in the lives of our youth: school personnel (teachers, instructtonal aides, bus drivers, maintenance staff, cafeteria workers, coaches, trainers, social service staff), reli- gious leaders, child-serving agency staff (caseworkers from mental health and chil- dren and youth services, juvenile proba- tton ofcers, detentton workers) parents, foster care parents, family members, EMT’s, police ofcers, nurses, physician assistants, policymakers, college and uni- versity staff. This helps to ensure that ample support is available to youth and young adults experiencing a behavioral health challenge at any given point. One half of all mental disorders begin by age 14 and three quarters by age 24. The earlier a person receives help the bet- ter their chance for treatment and a posi- ttve outcome. YMHFA is an interacttve program that relies on parttcipatton. It is not a therapy or support group. It is an educattonal informattonal course. It does not teach the skills to be a therapist or counselor. It is the inittal help provided to a youth experiencing a mental health problem before appropriate treatment and support are obtained. This may be for a crisis situatton or when a youth may be developing a mental illness. The course helps parttcipants to recognize the symp- toms of mental health problems; how to offer and provide inittal help; and how to guide the youth to professional help if ap- propriate. Parttcipants otffien say that their goals are to increase their understanding of behavioral health, adolescent develop- ment, confidence in helping others, and community resilience. One of my favorite stories as an in- structor is from a training parttcipant who told me she never thought she would be using the skills she learned so quickly atffier the training. She said that within two weeks of taking the course she was using the skills she learned. While she was par- ttcipattng in a focus group at church, one of the young women in the group was dis- playing symptoms of depression. Other members nottced this. Mary (not her real name) was able to approach, offer sup- port, and provide guidance to the young adult and other members of the group about what mental health is and what av- enues we have to intervene. Mary was glad she had been able to assist the young person and demysttfy behavioral health challenges. She said, “[Through YMHFA] you learn skills to use in all aspects of your life.” The course is very interacttve and ac- ttvity driven with ample room for discus- sion. That is why I enjoy being an instructor because it gives me the oppor- tunity to learn from others, facilitate growth and provide skills for people to make a difference in the lives of our youth and young adults. We also have the sup- port of the Ofce of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services which chal- lenges us to change a life, save a life and commit to parttcipatton in a Mental Health First Aid Class. Become aware. Make a difference! We need to be the change we want to see in our families, neighborhoods, schools and communittes! Pat Cambri is director of county imple- mentatton for the PA System of Care Part- nership. Contact her at cambripf@upmc.edu or check out the Partnership website at www.pasocpartnership.org The Value of Team Teaching by Doreen Barkowitz and Chad Owens The Youth and Family Training Instt- tute has a training team that has been teaching Youth Mental Health First Aid since May 2013. Since then, Chad Owens, youth support partner specialist, and Doreen Barkowitz, family member and training coordinator, have taught 412 indi- viduals throughout Pennsylvania. Parttci- pants have included clergy, college resident assistants, and ofcers, teachers and counselors from a correcttonal facility. Classroom aides and personal health assis- tants, nurses, principals, teach- ers, social workers, psychologists, mental health/cri- sis workers, and bus drivers from various school districts have been trained. Trainings have also included home service nurses, county mental health workers, youth support part- ners, social workers and juvenile justtce personnel from across the state. The training involves lecture, experienttal acttvittes that build understanding of the impact of illness on individuals and families, and videos in one, eight-hour day. Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) is a training that teaches mem- bers of the public how to 1) respond in a mental health emergency with youth and young adults, and 2) offer support to a young person who appears to be in emo- ttonal distress. Signs and symptoms of a mental health challenge, mental disorder, or a mental health crisis are discussed, as well as risk and protecttve factors. People trained in first aid can offer as- sistance to victtms of accidents or those who are in a medical crisis unttl profes- sional help arrives. Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) operates in a similar fashion. In training, YMHFA helps the training parttcipants acquire the basic knowledge and skills to respond to a young person who is having an emottonal crisis unttl appropriate help can be ob- tained. It is taught within the context of cultural awareness and the diversity of youth and families. YMHFA does not teach how to diag- nose or treat mental illness. It does, how- ever, give community members and natural supports such as friends, neigh- bors, and family members the knowledge to assess the situatton when a person may be experiencing an emottonal crisis, and/or a life-threatening event, such as suicidal ideattons. The course also teaches skills to use to help the youth or young adult connect to professionals and other adults who know and care about them. Some parttcipants consider the course a reminder of what they’ve learned in the past. Others are learning for the first ttme the signs and symptoms of common men- tal health issues in youth, and the behav- iors they may exhibit when they are contemplattng suicide. We speak in very real and concrete terms about suicide. We reiterate that suicide is the third leading cause of death for U. S. youth, ages 15-24, and that someone completes a suicide every two hours and three minutes. Some of what parttcipants hear and the acttvi- ttes can trigger a variety of responses. There are parttcipants in each training who have had a close friend or family member complete suicide. Others have discussed that they were unable to iden- ttfy warning signs, and how this has im- pacted them. As trainers, we share personal stories about how mental illness and suicide has impacted our lives, leading to a powerful presentatton when com- bined with the training materials. As a team, one of us is able to support a parttc- ipant outside of the training room when they may be having a difcult ttme be- cause the topic has elicited an emottonal response or memory. We have received posittve feedback over all, including comments like the fol- lowing: • “Although a difcult subject, the personal stories and ex- amples were helpful.” • “The presenters were great and kept the training inter- esttng.” • “I feel I can beiter handle cri- sis situattons with the youth I work with and those in my family and community.” • “I learned about engaging youth from a youth perspec- ttve.” • “I enjoyed hearing from a youth and family perspecttve along with having the train- ing materials.” We find that training this topic as a team helps us give relevant examples when questtons and comments arise. We have different experiences and perspec- ttves. We relate to audience members in different ways because of our age and cir- cumstances. When we train as a team we are able to be more aware of how our au- dience is being impacted by the informa- tton which is important because of the sensittvity of the topic. For addittonal informatton or to dis- cuss training, please contact Doreen Barkowitz at barkowitzdh@upmc.edu. Doreen Barkowitz is a family member and training coordinator and Chad Owens is youth support partner specialist for the Youth and Family Training Instttute, Pitis- burgh. page 5 December 2014 Providing Help, Reducing Sttgma by Stephen Paesani In our aitempts to reach out and help young people struggling with mental health challenges, there is a new tool available, Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA), part of the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) program. Locally, the city of Philadelphia, through the Department of Behavioral Health/Intellectual Disability Services (DB- HIDS) has established an ofce specifically dedicated to the promotton and coordina- tton of MHFA and YMHFA trainings and ac- ttvittes throughout the city. A goal has been set of having 10,000 individuals trained in either the adult or youth ver- sion of MHFA in Philadelphia by June 30, 2015. A further goal is to have 100,000 in- dividuals trained by 2022. So far over 7,200 folks have been trained, 1,500 of them in YMHFA. Addi- ttonally, there are 59 YMHFA trainers in the city. A partnership for MHFA trainings has been formed with the American Red Cross and training hubs have been estab- lished throughout the city. Trainings are delivered in churches, community centers, police stattons, schools, and recreatton centers. Beginning in Australia in 2001 and be- coming well-established in many countries around the world, MHFA is designed to empower community members to help and support one another in ttmes of men- tal health problems or crises. This is ac- complished through an intensive, highly interacttve eight-hour training. During the training, parttcipants are taught to recog- nize behaviors that MAY be symptoms of a mental health challenge and are given strategies to respond and offer support unttl the appropriate help arrives. The training is clearly designed for those with liitle or no formal training in mental health concerns; however, mental health professionals might also find the training helpful, providing addittonal skills and in- sights. YMHFA is designed to help young people ages 12 to 18. The training follows the same paradigm. As in the adult MHFA training, parttcipants are trained to recog- nize behaviors that MAY indicate mental health challenge or crisis and to provide assistance unttl the appropriate help is re- ceived or the crisis passes. YMHFA training does NOT enable anyone to make a diag- nosis or to offer counseling. Rather, as the tttle suggests, the emphasis is on provid- ing “first aid.” Professional help is letffi to the mental health professionals. YMHFA training is divided into two main secttons: what behaviors might one SEE in a young person that may indicate a mental health challenge, and, what might one DO to provide help and assistance to the young person unttl the appropriate help arrives. The heart of the YMHFA program is the five-step “ALGEE” actton plan. When providing aid to a young person with a mental health challenge, first-aiders are trained to: • Assess for risk of harm to self or others; • Listen non-judgmentally; • Give reassurance and informatton; • Encourage appropriate professional help; and, • Encourage self-help and other support strategies. By means of case studies, role plays, simulattons, and video presentattons, par- ttcipants practtce each of these steps. Throughout the experience, those in the training are encouraged to adapt the skills and strategies to their specific role and re- lattonship with the young people they en- counter. The overall outcome of the training is a reductton of fear and discomfort among the parttcipants in facing mental health is- sues. In easing that discomfort, YMHFA is a great help in lessening the sttgma asso- ciated with mental health concerns. Par- ttcipants are able to discuss their own fears and concerns when confronted with a mental health crisis; they become aware of the resources available in their commu- nity to professionally assist a young per- son facing a mental health challenge; and, they are encouraged to recognize their own strengths and possible limitattons when providing first aid. All of this provides greater safety and support for our young people. Now, “regu- lar folks” are becoming more aituned to the concerns and issues facing adoles- cents and are learning skills to offer inittal help. Parents, family members, teachers, coaches, mentors, neighbors, clergy and many others are becoming “first aiders”…this can only contribute to the overall well-being of our youth. In the school setting, YMHFA is the perfect complement to the Student Assis- tance Program (SAP). In places where there is a well-functtoning SAP, YMHFA provides addittonal knowledge and skills to the enttre school staff. This in turn en- hances the support and care students can receive in the school setting through SAP and the other services the school pro- vides. Consequently, all administrators, teachers, support staff, janitorial and cafe- teria workers, coaches and bus drivers are all appropriate for YMHFA training. Knowl- edge is power and the knowledge…and skills…learned through YMHFA will go a long way in helping our students achieve and maintain mental health. In the United States, MHFA and YMHFA services and acttvittes are coordi- nated by the Nattonal Council for Behav- ioral Health. The Nattonal Council maintains a registry of all YMHFA trainings throughout the country. Informatton on becoming a trainer is also available. To learn more about the MHFA initta- ttve in Philadelphia, visit healthymind- sphilly.org. Stephen Paesani is the children and ado- lescent training specialist for the Behav- ioral Health Training & Educatton Network, Philadelphia. page 6 December 2014 part, there was an overwhelmingly posi- ttve response from the schools. In some cases, however, schools would say, ”This sounds great, but we have SAP” (the Stu- dent Assistance Program). As with any new training, people had questtons about how YMHFA would fit with the existtng structure of support. There was a lot of di- alogue about how YMHFA is not intended to replace existtng supports (such as SAP). However, the goal is to identtfy areas where the training can complement the strengths and successes of existtng sup- ports. Moyer adds that the process of markettng YMHFA opened up important conversattons about the opportunittes we all have to make connecttons with youth, especially youth who struggle emotton- ally. The beauty of YMHFA is that it is a public community curriculum so the skills are not geared toward training just one profession; they are geared toward every- one. Following months of planning, the project was ready to launch. The YMHFA Instructor training was held from July 14- 18, 2014 at PaTTAN in King of Prussia. The class included Instructor candidates from nine school districts, MCIU, PaTTAN, the Health Department, Youth Detentton, and Children’s Mobile Crisis. At the conclusion of the intensive five-day training course, Montgomery County welcomed 27 newly trained Youth Mental Health First Aid in- structors and the “pay it forward” process began. Typically, the cost of becoming an In- structor is $2,500. The Systems of Care grant enabled the county to offer the training to parttcipants at no charge. There was one catch, however; the in- structors agreed to “pay forward” three YMHFA trainings at no cost in their schools and communittes in return. The county supports the new instructors by providing each training team with 30 training manuals to be used for their first community training. Addittonally, the county, with support from the MCIU and the Regional MHFA consultants, provide an Instructors Collaborattve. The collabo- rattve provides an opportunity for the in- structors to stay connected, share ideas and informatton that conttnue to keep the posittve energy going. The county’s YMHFA instructors come from all different backgrounds including special educatton teachers, school psychologists, adminis- trators, home and school visitors, crisis workers and social workers. All come with varying systems perspecttves but share the same enthusiasm and passion for increasing mental health literacy in Montgomery County through YMHFA. Since graduatton day on July 18, 2014, the instructors have been busy “paying forward” the skills of YMHFA in schools and communittes across the county. The idea is already prov- ing to be successful, as in this short span of only four months, our in- structors have trained 300 people to become Youth Mental Health First Aiders. That’s 300 more people in our schools and communittes with skills who can make a meaningful impact on the lives of our youth and families. And we are just beginning! Tricia Maloti is a former Montgomery County CASSP Coordinator and currently a consultant for the Regional Mental Health Services Coordinatton Office and a Mental Health First Aid trainer. For more informa- tton, contact Tricia at tmaloti@comcast.net. conttnued from page 1 page 7 December 2014 “Knowledge is Powerful” by Jemma Homer When I found out I found out that a Youth Mental Health First Aid training was being offered in Clearfield I was very interested. I drove from Erie to aitend the training thinking that a class of this na- ture would aid me in my desired field of study, counseling. Since the class I have obtained several jobs that require me to work directly with youth. Prior to this training I was not keenly aware of signs a youth would exhibit if he or she were considering self-harm or suicide. But more importantly is the knowledge gained on how to start a dialogue with such a young person about these topics. Even now the prospect of these kinds of conversattons are daunttng, but now hav- ing been trained as a first responder, I feel more confident in my approach and know if the situatton were to arise I would not be contributtng to the harm or discomfort of the child. I can greatly im- pact the outcome in a posittve way. I highly recommend this training to anyone currently working with or who anttcipates working with children in the future. Knowledge is powerful and understand- ing the complexittes of these types of sit- uattons would even aid individuals who have young children themselves. Jemma Homer, Erie County, is an admis- sions counselor at Mercyhurst Northeast among other roles., PA CASSP Newsletter published by Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Bureau of Children’s Behavioral Health Services page 8 December 2014 Youth Mental Health First Aid USA Overview from the Nattonal Council for Behavioral Health Youth Mental Health First Aid USA is an 8-hour public educatton program which introduces parttcipants to the unique risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems in adolescents, builds under- standing of the importance of early inter- ventton, and teaches individuals how to help an adolescent in crisis or experienc- ing a mental health challenge. Mental Health First Aid uses role-playing and sim- ulattons to demonstrate how to assess a mental health crisis; select interventtons and provide inittal help; and connect young people to professional, peer, social, and self-help care. What Will Parttcipants Learn? The course teaches parttcipants the risk factors and warning signs of a variety of mental health challenges common among adolescents, including anxiety, de- pression, psychosis, eattng disorders, ADHD, disrupttve behavior disorders, and substance use disorder. Parttcipants do not learn to diagnose, nor how to provide any therapy or counseling - rather, parttci- pants learn to support a youth developing signs and symptoms of a mental illness or in an emottonal crisis by applying a core five-step actton plan: • Assess for risk of suicide or harm • Listen nonjudgmentally • Give reassurance and informatton • Encourage appropriate professional help • Encourage self-help and other support strategies The Youth Mental Health First Aid USA curriculum is primarily focused on in- formatton parttcipants can use to help adolescents and transitton-age youth, ages 12-18. Who Should Take the Course? The course is designed for adults who regularly interact with adolescents (teach- ers, school staff, coaches, youth group leaders, parents, etc.), but is being tested for appropriateness within older adoles- cent groups (16 and older) so as to en- courage youth peer to peer interactton. In January 2014, President Obama recom- mended training for teachers in Mental Health First Aid. The core Mental Health First Aid course has been successfully of- fered to more than 100,000 people across the USA, including hospital staff, employ- ers and business leaders, faith communi- ttes, law enforcement, and the general public. Who Created the Course? Mental Health First Aid USA is coordi- nated by the Nattonal Council for Behav- ioral Health, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Mis- souri Department of Mental Health. Since 2008, more than 100,000 individuals have taken the core Mental Health First Aid USA course, which is in- tended for all adult audiences. Mental Health First Aid USA worked with experts at the Nattonal Technical Assis- tance Center for Children’s Mental Health at the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development to develop the youth program. Where Can I Learn More? To learn more about the Mental Health First Aid USA, or to find a course or contact an instructor in your area, visit www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org. Reprinted by permission from www.men- talhealthfirstaid.org.