A new study highlights the mental health crisis among young people right now.
Politico surveyed 1,400 mental health professionals nationwide and found that more than half are dissatisfied with the current resources available to address mental health issues in children and teens.
A local nonprofit is working to change that by teaching the community how to become a resource.
Just as people can become certified in CPR first aid, Dallas-area schools communities offer free classes that teach people how to become certified in youth mental health first aid, which can be just as critical to saving lives. life.
“I always talk about the fact that first aid is taught quite widely, isn’t it? We’ve all heard some sort of how to do chest compressions until 911 arrives. So, this course is similarly designed to teach people how to do the metaphorical “chest compressions” until they can get the youngsters to connect with their next best step,” said Dr. Summer Rose, chief clinical officer of Communities in Schools in the Dallas region. “That might look like including them in resources. That might look like doing some momentary interventions to help stabilize them until 911, a youth mental health provider, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a school counselor or someone else can step in.”
Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to teach parents, family members, carers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbours, health and social workers and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent – aged between 12 and 18 – who is experiencing mental health or addiction problems or is in crisis.
Click here for details on upcoming free classes on Wednesday, April 17 and May 15. You must complete two hours of online pre-work before attending the in-person portion of the class, and you must be 18 or older to register. You can also send an email [email protected] For more information.
The 8-hour, in-depth class teaches the signs and symptoms of a mental health emergency, a five-step action plan to help youth, and what anxiety, depression, substance use and other disorders can look like in young people.
A Children’s Health report from a few months ago highlighted the need for resources like this. In 2021, suicide was the second leading cause of death nationally for children ages 10 to 14.
“Youth suicide rates have skyrocketed and that’s not something anyone wants to see, is it? That’s not a number we want to keep going up. And so I think that’s the part of this course that people really, really connect with,” said Dr. Rose, “One thing that I think is always monumental — and when you kind of see the light bulb go off when people are in this class – is about understanding the signs and symptoms of suicide. We debunk some myths and provide some facts, what does it look like when a young person is considering suicide? How do we face this?”
NBC 5’s Brittney Johnson is one of the latest to complete the training course and become certified in mental health first aid. Certification lasts three years and is given by the National Council on Mental Well-Being.
For the past 40 years, Communities In School of the Dallas region has placed trained staff in high-need schools in North Texas to address behavioral and mental health, attendance, social services and academics.
The nonprofit organization partners with fourteen area school districts and has officers stationed at a total of 130 elementary, middle and high school campuses to address issues that place a child on the Texas Education Agency’s statewide “at risk” list .
During the 2022-2023 school year, the nonprofit organization served over 103,000 students. Of those students, 61% met one or more state criteria to be considered at risk of dropping out, 46% were held back on a grade or failed a major academic measure in the past year, and 27% met the state standard for Limited English Proficiency.
But Dr. Rose said the results for the students offered signs of hope. Of the same students served last school year, 81% improved in academic performance, behavior and/or attendance, 99% were promoted to the next grade, 97% of eligible seniors graduated, and 100% remained in school .
“Research shows you only need one person, like a young person, to believe in you,” Dr. Rose said. “We have so much to overcome, but you only need one person. And school communities have a trained individual on their campus who can be that person for students who are at risk.”
