H79SM088027

Vermont Project Aware 2023 - Vermont Project Aware 2023 continues the collaborative partnership of the Vermont Department of Mental Health and the VT Agency of Education from AWARE 2018 and adds three new regional teams of local education agencies and their designated mental health agencies. Together, these state and local partners will develop sustainable infrastructure for school-based social, emotional, and mental health supports within the Vermont Multi-Tiered System of Support Framework (VTMTSS).

VT AWARE will work intensively with three LEAs: Barre Unified Union School District (BUUSD), Southwest VT Supervisory Union (SVSU), and Caledonia Central Supervisory Union (CCSU). Children's mental health services in each LEA catchment area are provided by: Washington County Mental Health for BUUSD, Northeast Kingdom Human Services for CCSU, and United Counseling Services for SVSU. Together, these communities support 7,174 students in 20 schools.

Students in VT are experiencing increased mental health concerns, especially students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, and/or students who experience health disparities related to their race/ethnicity and struggle to access timely mental health supports.

Vermont will establish statewide structures for the scale-up and sustainability of mental health and wellness supports within VTMTSS throughout all districts.

Goal 1: Increase awareness of mental health, substance use, and co-occurring disorders among school-aged youth.
Goal 2: Increase the mental health literacy of individuals who interact with school-aged youth to understand and detect the signs and symptoms of mental illness, substance use/misuse, and co-occurring disorders.
Goal 3: Promote and foster resilience building and mental health well-being for all school-aged youth.
Goal 4: Provide positive behavioral health supports; targeted services to those who need more support; and intensive services to those who need them.
Goal 5: Connect school-aged youth who may have behavioral health issues, including serious emotional disturbance or serious mental illness, and their families to needed services.
Goal 6: Increase and improve access to culturally relevant, developmentally appropriate, and trauma-informed school and community-based AWARE activities and services.

To accomplish these goals, each LEA will form a District-Community Leadership Team (DCLT) responsible for the needs assessment and implementation plan. The DCLT will use the VTMTSS framework tools, informed by the Interconnected Systems Framework for integrating mental health into tiered systems, to structure the needs assessment through data collection, system review, and initiative inventory.

LEAs' implementation plans will identify or strengthen the use of a universal social-emotional-behavioral screener; plan for continuous DCLT review of data to inform VTMTSS supports and services; update referral pathways that link students with necessary school-based and/or community mental health services; update or develop MOUs with community service providers; develop and implement workforce capacity-building training plan for mental health and suicide awareness/prevention; update crisis protocols to ensure an immediate response to student mental health/suicidal needs; and align crisis protocols with their existing school safety/violence prevention plan.

An advisory board, inclusive of student and family voices, will be established within the first six months to inform the project. Students and families in LEAs will have input on the efforts to strengthen their LEA's mental health and wellness supports.

Awareness training will include Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA), Teen MHFA, and UMatter Suicide Prevention Training for students, school staff, and community members.

VT AWARE activities are expected to reach a 5-year total of at least 6,900 (YR1 400, YR2 1000, YR3 1500, YR4 2000, YR5 2000) students, teachers, school staff, families, and mental health and social services providers.

Vermont Agency Of Human Services

SAMHSA WAS GIVEN THE AUTHORITY TO ADDRESS PRIORITY SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT, PREVENTION AND MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS OF REGIONAL AND NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE THROUGH ASSISTANCE (GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS) TO STATES, POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF STATES, INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS, AND OTHER PUBLIC OR NONPROFIT PRIVATE ENTITIES. UNDER THESE SECTIONS, CSAT, CMHS AND CSAP SEEK TO EXPAND THE AVAILABILITY OF EFFECTIVE SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT AND RECOVERY SERVICES AVAILABLE TO AMERICANS TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF THOSE AFFECTED BY ALCOHOL AND DRUG ADDITIONS, AND TO REDUCE THE IMPACT OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE ON INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES, COMMUNITIES AND SOCIETIES AND TO ADDRESS PRIORITY MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS OF REGIONAL AND NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE AND ASSIST CHILDREN IN DEALING WITH VIOLENCE AND TRAUMATIC EVENTS THROUGH BY FUNDING GRANT AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROJECTS. GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS MAY BE FOR (1) KNOWLEDGE AND DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION PROJECTS FOR TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION AND THE CONDUCT OR SUPPORT OF EVALUATIONS OF SUCH PROJECTS, (2) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, (3) TARGETED CAPACITY RESPONSE PROGRAMS (4) SYSTEMS CHANGE GRANTS INCLUDING STATEWIDE FAMILY NETWORK GRANTS AND CLIENT-ORIENTED AND CONSUMER RUN SELF-HELP ACTIVITIES AND (5) PROGRAMS TO FOSTER HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN, (6) COORDINATION AND INTEGRATION OF PRIMARY CARE SERVICES INTO PUBLICLY-FUNDED COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTERS AND OTHER COMMUNITY-BASED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SETTINGS

93.243 - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance

Division of Grants Management [HHS - SAMHSA]

Waterbury, Vermont 056761598 United States

Single Zip Code

Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) Program (SM-23-001)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 154% from $1,799,998 to $4,566,823.