But for a child not to benefit from the influence of a caring adult is another matter.
Springfield and Clark County took a small step toward improving the community’s ability to provide that influence Feb. 20 in a 6-and-a-half hour workshop its flyer said would help adults “identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders in youth … and help connect them with the appropriate care.”
Held at the Courtyard by Marriott, the in-person workshop (with advance online homework) was sponsored by Clark County Combined Health District, Wellspring, the Ohio Mental Health Network for School Success and the Mental Health First Aid Collaborative.
Gracie Hemphill, deputy health district commissioner, said her department’s interest was piqued by a local survey the district took that showed “a low number of youth and teens that had a trusted adult to go to.”
In a radio interview five years ago, the late Blontas “Winkie” Mitchell, a Springfield youth advocate, counselor and encourager, said she was encouraged by the difference go-to and available adults can make.
“I’ve seen many, many kids that their primary relationship has been with their grandparents, it’s been with an uncle, it’s been with a lady down the block.”
The Feb. 20 program, billed as “Youth Mental Health First Aid, will taught the ALGEE protocol. ALGEE is an acronym for:
Assess for risk of suicide or harm.
Listen non-judgmentally.
Give reassurance and information.
Encourage appropriate professional help.
Encourage self-help and other support strategies.
“We’re not asking people to do a treatment intervention,” Wellspring Executive Director Tracey Stute said, “just to get (a child) to the right place.”
While step one is expressed in a setting of crisis, it and the remaining steps also describe techniques adults can use to evaluate and build trusting relationships with children and adolescents daily.
The seminar also briefed participants on the symptoms of common mental health issues including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, attention deficit disorders and hyperactivity disorders.
A workshop flyer said the content had been expanded to present information on the effects of traumatic life experiences, addiction and the impact of social media and bullying that are part of today’s childscape.
Jack Legg, prevention program manager for Wellspring, said one of the well-known but challenging symptoms of at-risk youth is acting in angry and destructive or self-destructive behavior.
“That’s really (a form of) communication” for a child who might not have the language to say sad, mad or hurting.”
The hope of the workshop and the concern that initiated it is that aware and caring adults can become part of the community infrastructure that gets at-risk children and adolescents to the place where those questions are explored.
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