Lamar CISD is partnering with Texana Center during the 2018-2019 school year to provide Mental Health First Aid training to Lamar CISD secondary staff. Representatives from Texana Center trained all high school teachers before school began and additional staff will be trained in February.
Mental Health First Aid is considered one of the premier mental health and suicide prevention programs in the nation. Training consists of an eight-hour course that teaches educators to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders.
The training gives LCISD educators the skills to reach out and provide initial help and support to students who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem and help connect them to the appropriate care.
“We are investing in our students by investing in our teachers through training,” said Lamar CISD Director of Student Services Jennifer Roberts. “The goal is to equip our teachers to make an informed, positive impact around both mental wellness and suicide prevention.”
Mental Health First Aid began in Australia in 2001 and also includes risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems; information on depression, anxiety, trauma, psychosis and addiction disorders; a five-step action plan to help someone developing a mental health problem or in crisis; and professional, peer and self-help resources.
Texana Center is a nonprofit organization that provides behavioral healthcare and intellectual disabilities services primarily to residents of Austin, Colorado, Fort Bend, Matagorda, Waller and Wharton counties. Texana Center started providing Mental Health First Aid training in 2014 and has trained educators in five other school districts as well as many others outside of the education field.