Understanding the teenage mind and recognizing the signs of mental health crisis was the focus of a three-day Crisis Intervention Team workshop for teachers, administrators and staff of Upper Valley Career Center. The training was presented by the Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health Services at the Career Center in Piqua June 10-12.

CIT is a nationally recognized program that teaches law enforcement officers safe and effective approaches to handling crisis incidents involving a mentally ill individual. The CIT Companion Course for Teachers provides teachers and other school personnel with the knowledge and skills needed to respond effectively when a student is experiencing a behavioral health crisis. The training is conducted under the instructional supervision of local behavioral health professionals and law enforcement officers.

The program consists of a review of mental illness types, causes and symptoms; services and resources available in the community; structured de-escalation techniques; and scenario-based training.  The workshop is led by Jodi Long, LISW, LICDC, Director of Clinical Services and Evaluation and CIT Coordinator for the Tri-County Board. Long was joined all three days by Mike McRill of the Sidney Police Department, and Karen McRill of Sidney City Schools. Other presenters included representatives from courts, mental health providers, other law enforcement agencies, and persons living with mental illness.

"Teachers spend so much time with our young people, and at such a critical age in their emotional development, it is extremely important that they recognize when a situation is more than 'kids being kids' and to involve mental health professionals when appropriate," Long said. "What we hope these teachers come away with is a better appreciation for the outward signs of mental health crisis in young people, a sense of empowerment to de-escalate a situation, and knowledge of the local resources available to deal with a crisis."

After two full days of presentations, much of the third day is spent in role-playing scenarios. Volunteer students from Troy acted out scenes depicting various types of mental health crises. Teachers and staff were challenged to identify and de-escalate the situation in line with the training techniques, to ensure the safety and well-being of the student in crisis, other students in the area, and the teacher and staff. While the scenarios played out, the rest of the class watched and listened via two-way video, and the actions were critiqued by mental health and law enforcement professionals.

In addition to the school staff companion course, more than 170 law enforcement officers and professionals in Darke, Miami and Shelby counties have completed the Crisis Intervention Team Academy, and companion courses have been presented for emergency dispatchers, jail and corrections personnel, and mental health workers. CIT training is made possible by funds from the Tri-County mental health levy.

Piqua City Schools and project partners were notified of a $35,000 grant awarded April 1 by the Office of Ohio First Lady Karen W. Kasich, in partnership with the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and the Departments of Aging, Job and Family Services, and Mental Health and Addiction Services.

Piqua school officials and other grant partners recorded a video roundtable April 4 to discuss the program, titled "Building Resilient Youth in Piqua City Schools." The video will air on Piqua TV5 and will be available through the Piqua school website.

The grant was written by the Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health Services on behalf of the school district. The school will contract with Miami County Recovery Council to provide a prevention specialist to deliver Botvin LifeSkills curriculum to all fifth and sixth grade students in the Piqua schools during the 2014-15 school year.

Also supporting the grant is the Piqua Juvenile Education Fund, and the Piqua Police Department. Piqua Police Chief Bruce Jamison is the uncompensated Executive Director of the PJEF.

Resiliency is a term used in behavioral health and prevention to describe a broad set of skills, behaviors, attitudes and information that enables individuals to make healthy choices even when faced with pressures from media, marketers, peers and others to use harmful substances such as tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs.

"Resiliency goes beyond 'just say no' kinds of programming," said Brad Reed, the Tri-County Board's Director of Community Resource Development and lead author of the grant. "Resiliency explores why to say no, and how to say no, and how to be confident and assertive about saying no. Developing resiliency also develops positive behaviors and attitudes for social interaction. It's a skill set that can be used for a lifetime."

According to Jodi Long, the Tri-County Board's Director of Clinical Services and Evaluation, the LifeSkills program is an ideal fit. "After talking to Bruce Jamison and Kim Piper from the school district and hearing their ideas about moving toward evidence-based practice in school prevention activities, this came along at exactly the right time," she said. Long was listening to a teleconference about Governor John Kasich's "Start Talking" programs for youth drug prevention, part of which was the grant funding opportunity, when she heard Jamison's voice on the conference call asking a question. Long's follow-up call to Jamison started the conversation with the schools and the decision to pursue the grant.

Chief Jamison envisions a consistent message throughout the students' school, home and online environments. "We need something that incorporates parents - there are a lot of parents that really care and want to deliver the right message to their children and just don't know how," Jamison said during the TV taping. "We recognize there are partners in the prevention programs within the schools. Wouldn't it be cool if there was something that could go right into the curriculum... more of an integrated message that is a lot of places - in the classroom, in the home, in the media, on FaceBook, on Twitter - wherever they are getting their messages, what if we could have the same right message all those places? And all of a sudden this initiative came out of the state called "Start Talking" ... and it was everything that we've been working towards, including a funding mechanism."

Long said that from her meeting with the PJEF, they had all the pieces to "begin putting together what was Bruce's dream - to implement evidence-based practice prevention services in place of D.A.R.E." Long explained that "evidence-based practices" are programs that are supported by research to have proven outcomes, "that they change the choices our youth make around drugs, alcohol, violence and other social issues."

Superintendent Hanes explained that the "D.A.R.E. program was a phenomenal program that was serving students well, but as we continue to move, things change. What [Chief Jamison and I] talked about was how to transition a program. What excites me ... is that this does provide a mechanism for us to be able to shift gears for better meeting the needs of students today. We were working from a curriculum for D.A.R.E. that was quite old, and it was time to revamp and revitalize."

The eight Botvin LifeSkills modules in the middle school curriculum will be embedded into the Piqua schools "Specials" rotation. Kim Piper explained that the Specials are subjects such as Physical Education, Art, Music, "so this will be added into that rotation." She added that school officials "are excited about the parent component and the teacher component." Part of the grant-funded activities is to train teachers and counselors in the LifeSkills curriculum.

Jamison said the grant-funded program "lays some groundwork - to me it's just the basis for a community-wide approach." Jamison said, "We have a bunch of drug abuse in Piqua. It's one of our biggest problems. It's not something we can arrest our way out of. It's probably not even something we can treat ourselves out of. What if we could do some social norming that made the whole community look at some of these issues differently?"

Jamison added that "this lays the groundwork to begin bringing in some faith-based initiatives, to expand to other grade levels, and we could look at any neat ideas anybody might have." He emphasized that a systematic approach is needed so that different groups aren't duplicating efforts.

Hanes said the $35,000 grant provides a "catalyst for all of us to start working together. We've been strong partners with the Police Department. We're looking forward to bringing the Tri-County Board into working more with us and becoming even more of a partner in offering good programming for our students. That's what this is all about."

Teachers and school employees in Darke, Miami and Shelby counties will have the opportunity to win money for their schools while learning how to spot the warning signs of suicide in young people, thanks to a $1,000 grant secured by the Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health Services.

The Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation awarded the grant as part of Ohio’s Campaign for Hope – Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative. These funds are made available through a grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as part of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Youth Suicide Prevention and Early Intervention Program. The funding is to be used to promote the Kognito At-Risk Interactive Online Gatekeeper Training for Middle and High School Educators and Staff.

The Tri-County Board is developing a promotional program that includes incentives for schools to complete the Kognito training, which is an online, interactive scenario-based suicide awareness training program. The incentive program will be rolled out to the schools in early 2014, according to Brad Reed, Tri-County Board Director of Community Resource Development. There is no cost to the schools for accessing the Kognito training.

In December 2012 the Ohio General Assembly passed and Governor John Kasich signed into law HB 543, the “Jason Flatt Act,” which requires school teachers, administrators and certain staff to be trained in suicide awareness. According to the Jason Foundation, suicide is the second most common cause of death among middle school and high school aged youth.

For more information about suicide prevention, please contact the Tri-County Board at its offices in Troy.