RENO, Nev. –The Children’s Cabinet is offering free online courses for adults looking to support youth called Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA). The curriculum and training have been provided by the National Council for Behavioral Health and funding was granted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The classes are designed to teach parents, mentors, teachers, coaches, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. Anyone interested can sign up for a one-day training session and The Children’s Cabinet offers these free online classes virtually each month.
“Because one in five youth will experience a mental health challenge at some point during their life, being equipped to know what to do and how to respond is a critical part of creating a community safety net for young people,” said Kim Young, Executive Director of The Children’s Cabinet. “The YMHFA program provides adults with vital tools and skills that can be applied to crisis and non-crisis situations. Over the next 3 years, The Children’s Cabinet will train, at no cost, 600 adults with important, life-saving skills.”
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, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders.
“This is an important topic for all adults,” said Taylor Morgan, Program Coordinator and course instructor at The Children’s Cabinet. “We are proud to be able to offer this course and help adults better connect with young people in crisis in our community, while teaching participants how to identify and respond to a young person experiencing a mental health challenge. The course emphasizes recovery and resiliency and is especially important to us at The Children’s Cabinet as it fits our mission to keep children safe and families together.”
Interested adults should contact Taylor Morgan at 775-348-6781 or tmorgan@childrenscabinet.org. Adults may also download a one sheet here. Other mental health services The Children’s Cabinet offers includes free family counseling and a middle school screening called Signs of Suicide with Washoe County School District. For more information about The Children’s Cabinet and the services offered, please visit www.childrenscabinet.org.
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About The Children’s Cabinet
Established in Reno 1985, The Children’s Cabinet exists to keep children safe and families together by offering services and resources that address unmet needs. The organization represents a unique and effective collaboration between the private sector and public agencies in Nevada. The Children’s Cabinet helps more than 12,000 families annually with a wide range of services: basic needs, child care resources, education, and work experience programs, crisis intervention, and family counseling. As a non-profit agency, The Children’s Cabinet relies on community support to provide programs and services at no charge to children and their families.
