Youth Mental Health First Aid Training

YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING FOR ADULTS ASSISTING CHILDREN AND YOUTH  

Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help a child or adolescent who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. Youth Mental Health First Aid is primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, nonsuicidal self-injury, suicide, substance use, trauma-related disorders, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders, including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and eating disorders.

Learn more about this evidence-based program on the Mental Health First Aid Website.

Why Youth Mental Health First Aid?

• 1 in 5 teens and young adults lives with a mental health condition.*

• 50% of all mental illnesses begin by age 14, and 75% by the mid-20s.**

• 10.2% of youth will be diagnosed with a substance use disorder in their lifetime.***

* National Alliance for Mental Illness ** Archives of General Psychiatry *** National Council for Mental Wellbeing

In Bartholomew County

• 33.6% of teens report feeling sad or hopeless for more than 2 weeks in a row.*

• 16.3% of teens report having seriously considered suicide.*

• SEVEN teens died by suicide between 2015-2023.**

* Indiana Youth Survey, Bartholomew County Report 2024 ** Office of the Coroner, Bartholomew County Report

PLEASE NOTE:

• 8 professional credit hours can be claimed upon completion of this training, and this training has been approved as 8 face-to-face training hours for Foster Parents licensed through the State of Indiana.
• This training is conducted by a Certified Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor, and participants who complete the full course will receive a 3-year certification from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.
• Participants must be age 18 or older.
• Lunch will be provided through a generous donation from The African-American Fund.