When the tragic shooting occurred at Sandy Hook
Elementary School on December 14, 2012, I knew we had to have a conversation
about school safety in our community to maintain a focus on prevention.
The following Monday, the St. Charles County Council
passed an emergency ordinance to establish a 14-member task force to study and
make recommendations to improve safety procedures at public and private schools
and colleges in St. Charles County. Based on the Schools, Mental Health and
Community Services Task Force's identified need to expand Mental Health First
Aid training to those who work with children and teens, the directors from the
St. Charles County Community & Children’s Resource Board, St. Louis Mental
Health Board, St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund, Franklin County Resource
Board and Lincoln County Resource Board hosted a Youth Mental Health First Aid
Training Program the week of Oct. 21-25. These boards stepped up to approve
funding of $25,500 toward training costs to help give school districts access to
the week-long program.
Similar to First Aid, Mental Health First Aid
provides help to people suffering from a mental health condition or experiencing
a crisis until treatment is secured or the crisis is resolved. Participants in
the October workshop, offered by certified instructors from the Missouri
Institute of Mental Health, learned how to assess a mental health crisis,
intervene and connect youth to appropriate care. Twenty-five participants from
St. Charles, Franklin, Lincoln, St. Louis Counties and the City of St. Louis
attended, and I’ve heard that feedback was positive. Executives from the
Children’s Services boards will explore offering the training again next spring
or summer.
I would like to thank the members of the Schools,
Mental Health and Emergency Services Task Force; Bruce Sowatsky, Executive
Director of the St. Charles County Community & Children’s Resource Board;
and the directors of all of the Children’s Services Boards in surrounding
counties for their work in making this training program happen. I would also
like to thank the school counselors and administrators who participated and are
taking invaluable skills back to their districts. St. Charles County has prided
itself on being a safe community, and we will continue to do all that we can to
help our students and schools succeed.