Youth Mental Health First Aid
This 8-hour YMHFA course launched in the United States in 2012 and is now taught in all 50 states. YMHFA teaches adults how to support youth who might be developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis, and to assist them to receive professional help. YMHFA stresses the importance of early intervention in order to support youth in building protective factors and linking to appropriate supports and resources, when necessary, to minimize the impact of mental health challenges while ensuring a stronger foundation as the youth transitions into adulthood.
The course can be taught in one 8-hour class, two 4 ½ hour classes or four 2 hour classes. Participants can attend a community class open to the public or organizations/groups/schools can host a YMHFA training.
On October 1, 2015, Delphi Drug & Alcohol Council was awarded a Project AWARE-C grant by Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). by Delphi Drug & Alcohol Council has formed a cadre of 15+ YMHFA instructors who in turn are teaching YMHFA classes to train at least 1,500 (500 per year). The goal of this federal grant funded initiative is to improve the mental health/substance use disorder literacy of adults who serve youth in our area by providing earlier intervention and greater levels of support available to young people aged 12-18.
Adults who interact with youth personally and/or professionally in the below catchment area are able to take YMHFA for free under this grant. The Delphi contact person for YMHFA is Margi Taber and she can be reached at email@example.com or (585) 467-2230 x205.
Catchment Area: Brighton/14610, 14618, 14620, East Irondequoit/14609, 14622, East Rochester/14445, Fairport/14450, Honeoye Falls-Lima/14472, 14485, Penfield/14526, 14625, Pittsford/14534, 14610, Rush-Henrietta/14467, 14543, 14586, 14623, Webster/14580, West Irondequoit/14617, 14621.
Why YMHFA is important to Monroe County:
The Monroe County Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) was conducted in public high schools during the 2014-2015 school year. Here are some highlights about Monroe County youth:
37% experienced some form of bullying in the past year
70% experienced one or more adverse experiences during their life
27% in the past year, felt so sad and hopeless almost every day for 2 or more weeks in a row that they stopped doing their usual activities
28% drank one or more drinks of alcohol in the past month; 15% drank 5 or more drinks of alcohol in a row within a couple of hours on one or more occasions in the past month
10% ever took any drug or pill to get high that was prescribed for someone else (such as OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, codeine, Adderall, Ritalin, Xanax)