The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Hernando has received a grant from Suncoast Credit Union Foundation to expand programming for Youth Mental Health Awareness. The grant will provide training material, participant manuals and resource material for three new programs, including Parents & Teachers as Allies, Ending the Silence and NAMI Basics.
“Mental illness is one of the biggest obstacles in education due to the stigma that surrounds it and yet, through education, support and empowerment, it is one of the most treatable,” said Tina Kinney, Executive Director of NAMI Hernando. “With the Suncoast Credit Union grant and our partnership with the Hernando County School District, we are able to bring service training to school personnel, classroom presentations to students and education classes and support groups to caregivers as part of a multifaceted approach to Youth Mental Health Awareness.”
Parents & Teachers as Allies focuses on educating teachers, counselors and school personnel on how to recognize the warning signs, communicate effectively with families and make classroom accommodations and strategy techniques that will help advance the education of children with mental illnesses. Ending the Silence brings awareness to high school and middle school students experiencing signs of mental illness and teaches them how to seek help in order to continue to function well in school and life. NAMI Basics and NAMI Family Support Group empower family caregivers as effective advocates for their children.
The start of many mental health conditions most often occurs in adolescence. Half of individuals living with mental illness experience onset by the age of 14. On average 35 children per month are being Baker Acted in Hernando County. Undiagnosed, untreated or inadequately treated mental health conditions can affect a student’s ability to learn, grow and develop. NAMI believes that schools provide a unique opportunity to identify and treat mental health conditions by serving students where they already are. School personnel play an important role in identifying the early warning signs of an emerging mental health condition and in linking students with effective services and supports.
NAMI Hernando’s goals include increasing the understanding of parents and school personnel on what mental illness is and how it affects education, offer solutions to fix it in order for all children to get the education they deserve, as well as to decrease the number of youth Baker Acts in the community. NAMI plans on directly impacting the lives of 4,180 children this year and is grateful for the funding from the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation.
For more information on programs and support groups offered by NAMI Hernando check out their events on Facebook, visit www.flnamihernando.org or call 352-684-0004.