Tag Archives: youth mental health first aid

Parents from the Migrant Education Program trained in YMHFA

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After three evening sessions, parents from the Migrant Education Program in South San Francisco were trained in Spanish Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA).  The Migrant Education Program, provided by South San Francisco Unified School District, is a program that funds and supports educational programs for migratory children and their families. The program’s School Liaison/Recruiter, Veronica Benavides, helped coordinate YMHFA for parents in collaboration with Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE).

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Youth Mental Health First Aid is offered in English and Spanish.

For more information about YMHFA, visit http://smchealth.org/bhrs/ode/CommunityEd or contact Natalie Andrade at nandrade@smcgov.org or 650-372-8548.

Westmoor High School Peer Assistants trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid

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For the third year now, Westmoor High School offered the Youth Mental Health First Aid certification to students in their Peer Assistant class.  A total of 24 students were trained and certified in 2 days. The students were trained to identify signs and symptoms of different mental disorders such as Depression, Anxiety, and Psychosis.  The students also learned how to self-care and take care of others in the case of a crisis. Instructor’s Kathy Reyes and Natalie Andrade incorporated fun 10 minute dance parties to practice self-care, which the class enjoyed. Many of the students also enjoyed role playing different mental health scenarios and getting involved in the group discussions.  Concluding the certification the students decided to take a silly picture!

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1 in 5 youth will experience a mental health challenge in their lifetime. Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) is an 8-hour public education training program designed for any adult or student peer working with or assisting young people, ages 12-24. In 2013, San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, Office of Diversity and Equity partnered with the County Office of Education to begin offering this training to schools throughout the county. Classroom teachers, school site administrators, school office personnel, coaches, bus drivers, after-school providers, parents, teacher’s aides, school health aides, yard duty staff, crossing guards, peers and other school personnel are strongly encouraged to become Youth Mental Health First Aiders.

The certification at Westmoor High School was made possible through a collaboration between the school’s counselor, Ki Gaines, the peer assistance co-teacher, Mr. Vargas, and the Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, Office of Diversity and Equity.

For more information about YMHFA, visit http://smchealth.org/bhrs/ode/CommunityEd#YMHFA or contact Natalie Andrade at nandrade@smcgov.org or 650-372-8548.

Article by Janette Ochoa, Intern with the Office of Diversity and Equity

Get Certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid – Fall Dates!

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YMHFA SMCOE 11-7 & 12-5

Youth Mental Health First Aid is being offered on Monday, November 7th and Monday, December 5th at the San Mateo County Office of Education.

Learn how to recognize the unique warning signs and risk factors of a mental health challenge and how to offer support and help until appropriate professional help is received!

Classroom teachers, school site administrators, school office personnel, coaches, bus drivers, after school providers, parents, teacher’s aides, school health aides, yard duty staff, crossing guards, peers and other school personnel are strongly encouraged to become Youth Mental Health First Aiders.

Sign up today!  To register, click on the following links:

Monday, November 7th: http://tinyurl.com/YMHFA-11-7-16

Monday, December 5th: http://tinyurl.com/YMHFA-12-5-16

For more information about YMHFA contact Natalie Andrade at nandrade@smcgov.org or 650-372-8548

 

Assistant Principal from Abbott Middle School Praises Youth Mental Health First Aid

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Assistant Principal, Elizabeth Gray, from Abbott Middle School experiences a crucial moment with a student, a moment that most school staff are not yet prepared to face unless they’ve taken a Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training. When a middle school student expressed thoughts of suicide in her notebook, Elizabeth sprang into action and used the skills learned in YMHFA to ask the difficult yet important question, “Are you thinking about killing yourself?” After asking the question twice, Elizabeth was able to get this young person immediate help. Since taking the training, Elizabeth has expressed the importance of YMHFA, saying that teachers are really the first responder’s to a student and can notice slight changes like mood and behaviors in a student.

See what Elizabeth about how the training has helped her:

1 in 5 young people experience a mental health challenge in their lifetime. Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) is an 8-hour public education training program designed for any adult or student peer working with or assisting young people, ages 12-24. In 2013, San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, Office of Diversity and Equity, partnered with the County Office of Education to begin offering this training to all schools throughout the county. Classroom teachers, school site administrators, school office personnel, coaches, bus drivers, after school providers, parents, teacher’s aides, school health aides, yard duty staff, crossing guards, peers and other school personnel are strongly encouraged to become Youth Mental Health First Aiders.

For more information about YMHFA, visithttp://smchealth.org/bhrs/ode/CommunityEd/ or contact Natalie Andrade at nandrade@smcgov.org or 650-372-8548

 

South San Francisco High School Peer Leaders Trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid

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MHFA

In collaboration with South San Francisco High School Counselor, Ms. Jeanne George, twenty-two (22) current and future peer leaders are now trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid. The Peer Leader Program is a year-long class, where students are hand selected to work as tutors by providing academic support and serve as mentors and role models to other students at the high school.

1 in 5 youth will experience a mental health challenge in their lifetime. Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) is an 8-hour public education training program designed for any adult or student peer working with or assisting young people, ages 12-24. In 2013, San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE), partnered with the County Office of Education to begin offering this training to all schools throughout the county. Classroom teachers, school site administrators, school office personnel, coaches, bus drivers, afterschool providers, parents, teacher’s aides, school health aides, yard duty staff, crossing guards, peers and other school personnel are strongly encouraged to become Youth Mental Health First Aiders.

For more information about YMHFA, visit http://smchealth.org/bhrs/ode/CommunityEd#YMHFA or contact Natalie Andrade at nandrade@smcgov.org or 650-372-8548.

 

Be a Youth Mental Health First Aider!

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YMHFA SMCOE 6-1 & 8-25

Youth Mental Health First Aid is being offered on June 1st and August 25th at the San Mateo County Office of Education. Sign up today! Class limit is 30 people.

In 2013, San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, Office of Diversity and Equity, partnered with the County Office of Education to begin offering this training to all schools throughout the county. Classroom teachers, school site administrators, school office personnel, coaches, bus drivers, afterschool providers, parents, teacher’s aides, school health aides, yard duty staff, crossing guards, peers and other school personnel are strongly encouraged to become Youth Mental Health First Aiders.

For more information about YMHFA, visit http://smchealth.org/bhrs/ode/CommunityEd#YMHFA

or contact Natalie Andrade at nandrade@smcgov.org or 650-372-8548

100 JUHS District Students Get Trained on Youth Mental Health First Aid

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Through an ongoing partnership with Jefferson Union High School District, a total of 100 student peers have been trained from three high schools in the district, including Westmoor High School, Jefferson High School and Terra Nova High School.

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Through collaboration with school counselors and peer resource teachers, Behavioral Health And Recovery Services (BHRS), Office of Diversity and Equity, was able to train students on how to identify the unique warning signs and risk factors of a mental health challenge in a young person and discuss how to help a peer when in distress. Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) instructors were able to adapt the YMHFA curriculum to fit the needs of students and incorporated activities regarding healthy coping skills and self-care.

YMHFA 2

1 in 5 youth will experience a mental health challenge in their lifetime. YMHFA is an 8-hour public education training program designed for any adult or student peer working with or assisting young people, ages 12-24. In 2013, San Mateo County BHRS, Office of Diversity and Equity, partnered with the County Office of Education to begin offering this training to all schools throughout the county. Classroom teachers, school site administrators, school office personnel, coaches, bus drivers, afterschool providers, parents, teacher’s aides, school health aides, yard duty staff, crossing guards, peers and other school personnel are strongly encouraged to become Youth Mental Health First Aiders.

YMHFA 3

For more information about YMHFA, visit http://smchealth.org/bhrs/ode/CommunityEd#YMHFA or contact Natalie Andrade at nandrade@smcgov.org or 650-372-8548.

 

 

SPECIAL FEATURE #4: PROMOTING POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES – Mental Health First Aid

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The Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE) Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) program is a groundbreaking free program that trains participants to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders and learn a 5-step action plan to help an individual in crisis connect with appropriate professional, peer, social, and self-help care.

Since it’s inception, over 1400 individuals have been certified in MHFA … “We’ve trained everyone from teenagers, law enforcement, parents, teachers to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health and learn appropriate ways on how to connect someone to help,” says former coordinator, Lauren Getuiza.

In October 2013, ODE partnered with the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) to begin offering Youth MHFA in schools, successfully training 917 individuals during 51 trainings countywide. At 6 month follow up, more than three-quarters (77%) of respondents reported having been in a situation at least once since their participation in the course, in which YMHFA was relevant. And of these:

  • 97% report that they applied YMHFA
  • 91% report that they felt they were effective in applying YMHFA

Enjoy this short video clip and visit ODE’s Community Education webpage to learn more about the Adult and Youth MHFA and other Community Education programs.

Once a week I am sharing BHRS Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE) prevention programs through a series of short video clips created by the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA), funded by the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). Check out our previous blog posts and come back next week for Special Feature #5 – The Health Ambassador Program!

ODE Hosts First Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor Summit

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On January 28, 2015, the Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE) hosted the first Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) Instructor Summit. A total of 14 YMHFA Instructors were present for the 2.5 hour event. School personnel, community-based organization employees, community members, San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) staff, San Mateo Medical Center and Behavioral Health and Recovery Services staff comprised the instructor group.

Topics discussed included the unique partnership between ODE and SMCOE to provide free, 8-hour YMHFA trainings to school personnel and other youth-serving adults of our county through Measure A tax funds; highlights and outcomes reports of the program since the kickoff in October 2013; continual instructor support from ODE staff; and ways to strengthen the community of instructors not only in San Mateo County, but neighboring counties as well.

Presentations were provided on topics of Non-Suicidal Self Injury, Cultural Humility as well as SMCOE’s work on the Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities. ODE plans on hosting Instructor Summit meetings on an annual basis to support, inspire and thank instructors for their efforts. Through these meetings, ODE will offer continual learning and support for instructors to facilitate trainings confidently while taking a culturally humble approach and furthering the vital work in reducing stigma related to mental health and substance abuse.

For more information about this Summit or YMHFA, please contact Lauren Getuiza at c_lgetuiza@smcgov.org or 650-372-8548.

Recipe for a Healthy Community

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As the year comes to a close, let us reflect upon all of the amazing work that is being done to reach our communities who live with mental health and substance abuse challenges. The National Council for Behavioral Health created a recipe for creating a healthy community. This recipe can serve as a reflection of resources we have as well as a vision towards goals to achieve for the New Year. As a community of service providers, San Mateo County has a pantry full of necessary ingredients to create a healthier community. With dedicated collaborations and effective programming, we can certainly create a healthy dose of Wellness.

Happy Holidays!

Recipe

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