Training to identify and help someone experiencing a mental health crisis will be held June 13-14 and June 15-16 at the Public School Central Office, 2010 N. 59th St., Kansas City, Kan.
The Mental Health First-Aid courses are offered by Wyandot Center, a Wyandotte County-based nonprofit providing mental health services to children and adults.
Courses will show how to recognize symptoms of mental illness, including depression, anxiety, trauma, talk of suicide, psychosis and substance abuse. Training includes a five-step plan to help someone developing a mental health concern.
The youth version course will be held June 14-14. The adult version is June 15-16.
Continuing education credits are available to health care professionals. There is a $50 training fee per person. Scholarships are available. The course can be used to become certified as a Mental Health First Aider.
One in 10 in Wyandotte County has a serious mental illness (SMI), according to the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. About 40 percent of these cases go untreated. Untreated SMI is associated with seven suicides, 1,100 incarcerations and 1,500 unemployed adults annually in the county, foundation research shows. The foundation estimates there are approximately 9,600 cases of untreated SMI in Wyandotte County. For details contact Beth Yoder Stein, Wyandot Center, at [email protected] or 91-328-4633.