CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for those who are 10 to 14 years old in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gov. Roy Cooper allocated $5 million from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund from COVID-19 relief funds to expand Youth Mental Health First Aid training. It helps adults who work with youth to identify and support children who are experiencing mental health challenges. In addition, the funds have supported Teen Mental Health First Aid, which provides high school students in grades 10-12 with training in Mental Health First Aid.
Layla Bluefort is a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor for adults and teens.
“I realized training people in Mental Health First Aid was as important as training people in CPR and regular first aid,” Bluefort said.
In May, she trained adults from the nonprofit Grace-Mar Services Inc. on Youth Mental Health First Aid in Charlotte.
It aims to give attendees the tools support 12- to 18-year-olds experiencing mental health challenges through a five-step action plan.
“We hope that they can recognize signs and symptoms earlier and get young people connected to treatment earlier,” Bluefort said.
The training is conducted through a contract with the UNC School of Social Work, which implements the free training in schools and youth serving organizations.
“It’s pretty good to have that knowledge to help people better that we work with,” KJ Smith, with Grace-Mar Services Inc., said the day of the training.
Bluefort said her own daughter struggled with her mental health in high school.
“I didn’t catch the signs. I just got a call one day from her school saying she wanted to attempt suicide. Because I was trained in youth mental health aid, it allowed me to support her journey,” Bluefort said.
Her daughter is doing better, but this experience underscored the importance of this training to Bluefort.
“As tough as it was to get a call that my daughter wanted to die by suicide. It would have been tougher of a reality for me to know my daughter died by suicide, and I didn’t have the skills, and I didn’t know what to do and how to help her,” Bluefort said.
Asheville City Schools, the Wake County Public School System and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are some of the districts trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid.
According to the UNC School of Social Work, more than 1,500 adults and 36 teens have been trained. It plans to extend the program through June 2025.
The state funding covers costs for class materials, instructors and the electronic gift cards participants receive.