Connecting Fulton County Hosts Youth 'Mental Health First Aid' Course
Posted
Staff Report-
ROCHESTER – Similar to First Aid and CPR, Mental Health First Aid teaches individuals how to help those experiencing mental health challenges or crises. The course helps anyone who wants to learn how to provide initial help to someone who may be experiencing symptoms of a mental illness or in crisis. The course gives people tools to help friends, family members, colleagues or others in their community. For the Youth Mental Health First Aid certification course, those completing the eight-hour course will receive a certification and anyone completing for the first time will receive a $25 gift card, according to a press release provided by Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation. The event is Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Rochester Learning Center, 1820 Park Road, Rochester. As reported by the Indiana Prevention Resource Center in their 2014 findings of “Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Use by Indiana Children and Adolescents,” 26.1 percent of the surveyed Indiana 10th-graders responded yes to the question “During the past 12 months, did you ever feel so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that you stopped doing some usual activities?” Youth Mental Health First Aid USA is an eight-hour public education program which introduces participants to the unique risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems in adolescents, builds understanding of the importance of early intervention, and teaches individuals how to help an adolescent in crisis or experiencing a mental health challenge, the press release states. The National Council for Behavioral Health certifies individuals throughout the nation, including Connecting Fulton County, to provide Mental Health First Aid courses to prepare their communities with the knowledge and skills to help individuals who are developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. Identified on SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices, the training helps the public better identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses. For more information on Mental Health First Aid, visit www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org To register, visit www.connectingfultoncounty.org The course is limited to the first 20 registrations. This course is sponsored by Connecting Fulton County, which is dedicated to the development of a data-driven substance abuse prevention system which focuses on reducing risk factors and increasing protective factors in Fulton County. Connecting Fulton County is administered by Youth Services Alliance through Communities That Care funding provided by the SAPT Block Grant through FSSA/Division of Mental Health and Addiction. For more information, visit www.connectingfultoncounty.org
