Clinic receives grant for training professionals
Connecticut’s Wheeler Clinic received a $370,500 grant in September to train 1,500 professionals who work with 18- to 24-year-old youths in Mental Health First Aid.
The clinic has been a leader in providing the training in the state – having trained nearly 800 people since 2009, when it began offering the eight-hour evidence-based course that teaches community members to recognize and respond to the signs and symptoms of mental illnesses and substance use disorders.
The three-year grant from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) funds a program called Community Support for Transition-Aged Youth, or CSTAY. Those who go through the program would include probation officers, police, youth workers, community college and trade school faculty and staff, among others, said Susan Walkama, LCSW, Wheeler Clinic president and CEO.
“The program will increase mental health literacy by teaching participants about the risk factors and warning signs for young adults either developing a mental health challenge or experiencing a mental health or substance abuse crisis,” she said.
“By training individuals to recognize the signs and symptoms and responding with help, we can facilitate early intervention before problems become more severe or chronic. The training also helps reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues allowing individuals to respond in more meaningful ways and to obtain professional help.”
More than 5,000 people have been trained through Connecticut’s adult course and about 2,700 through the youth course, said Mary Kate Mason, communications director for the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and a youth Mental Health First Aid trainer. The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 increased the state’s emphasis on the program, she said.
Connecticut had not specifically targeted community members who work with transition-aged youth until this grant. “That age group a lot of times is developing the first signs of mental illness and their developmental stage is a little different than a young child or adult,” she said.
The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services provides some funding to Wheeler to train Mental Health First Aid trainers, Mason said.
Founded in 1968, Wheeler Clinic is a nationally accredited nonprofit that provides mental health and substance abuse recovery, primary care, child welfare, education, prevention and other services for individuals and families in Connecticut. The clinic will partner with the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery to implement the CSTAY program.
Mental Health First Aid was created in Australia in 2001 by a mental health literacy professor and a nurse who now run Mental Health First Aid Australia. The program was adopted by the U.S. in 2008 and is coordinated by the National Council for Behavioral Health, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Missouri Department of Mental Health.
“The curriculum includes a five-step Mental Health First Aid action plan that can be utilized to assist someone who might be developing a mental health challenge or experiencing a crisis,” Walkama said. “This is training for the entire community. Our hope is that Mental Health First Aid will become as common as traditional First Aid and CPR.”
Two other Connecticut organizations, Mental Health Connecticut and Education Connection, also received a SAMHSA Mental Health First Aid grant, according to information on Wheeler’s Web site.