Maui Youth & Family Services provides youth mental health first aid training and certification

Maui Youth & Family Services hosted a Youth Mental Health First Aid training on Friday, Feb. 13 at the Maui Family YMCA West Side Resource Center.

MYFS provides mental health and wellbeing programs for Maui County’s youth, such as outpatient and school-based counseling, residential shelters, and substance use treatment.

The Youth Mental Health First Aid training equips individuals who work with youth throughout the community with the skills to identify, understand, and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health or substance use challenges among adolescents.

“With the environment we’re in post-fires, compounded by the everyday stressors young people face, having more people in the community prepared to support youth is critical,” said Nicole Hokoana, CEO of MYFS. “Being able to provide this training in Lahaina is especially important, and we’re grateful for the support of the YMCA for providing the space.”

A recent public health report from the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization demonstrates that over half of children screen positive for depression, highlighting the need for community based mental health support for youth.

During the training, participants learned how to reach out and provide initial support to young people who are struggling, how to speak with them in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and how to provide connections and referrals for appropriate help. Those who passed a test at the end of the training received a Certification in Youth Mental Health First Aid.

The training was presented by Danielle Bergen of Maui Mental Health Trainings and Consulting, and Amber Drake, Clinical and Youth Development Supervisor for YouthLine.

“I teach YMHFA because prevention and early intervention is key to reducing the amount of pain and suffering youth may experience,” said Drake. “We want to be the adult they can go to for positive support and resources,” added Bergen, “We need to communicate that it’s ok not to be ok; asking for help is a sign of strength.”

Two previous mental health trainings for those who support youth have been conducted, including safeTALK- LivingWorks, which equips people to be more alert to someone thinking of suicide and better able to connect them with further help, and Suicide Prevention Foundations SP 101, a foundational training that introduces audiences to the major suicide prevention concepts and skills.

An additional class offered in March is Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)-LivingWorks, a two-day, in-person workshop featuring powerful audiovisuals, discussions, and simulations. Participants will learn how to recognize when someone may be thinking about suicide, and how to provide a skilled intervention and develop a safety plan with the person to connect them to further support. The class will be held March 26th and March 27th. To register go to https://mbhr.org/event/asist/

These trainings are coordinated by MYFS and supported by Maui United Way’s Sentry Mālama nā Keiki Initiative. The initiative provides critical mental health support for Maui keiki impacted both directly and indirectly by the Lahaina wildfires, through a variety of activities, direct services, trainings and partnerships with local youth-serving organizations.

MYFS is part of Maui Behavioral Health Resources, an umbrella organization of three nonprofit agencies that also includes Aloha House and Malama Family Recovery Center. All three agencies seek to provide mental health and substance use disorder treatment to Maui residents.

Together, the agencies provide services to almost 8,000 individuals in the Maui community each year. Learn more at www.MBHR.org.