Mental Health Pilot Program Launches At Livermore High School

LIVERMORE, CA — Livermore High School is participating in a pilot program designed to teach students to recognize and respond when their friends are experiencing the early stages of a mental health or addiction problem, the district announced Monday.

The school is taking part in the national teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) program for the 2019-20 school year. The school will train more than 460 sophomores this year. The training is the first of its kind developed for high school students in the U.S., according to the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District.

Similar to CPR, students learn a five-step action plan to help their friends who may be facing a mental health problem or crisis, such as suicide. The action plan includes involving a responsible and trusted adult. Livermore High School has trained over 20 percent of its school staff in Mental Health First Aid for adults working with young people, according to the district.

The tMHFA program is out of Australia, and the U.S.-based National Council for Behavioral Healthadapted the training with support from Born This Way Foundation and Well Being Trust. The tMHFA pilot program is being evaluated by researchers from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health to assess its effectiveness. The training will be made available to the public following analysis of the pilot study, according to the LVJUSD.

“We’re thrilled Livermore High School is one of the first U.S. high schools to participate in teen Mental Health First Aid,” said Chuck Ingoglia, president and CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health. “Teens trust their friends, so they need to be trained to recognize signs of mental health or substance use problems in their peers. The number one thing a teen can do to support a friend dealing with anxiety or depression is to help the friend seek support from a trusted adult.”

“I want the teen Mental Health First Aid program in every school in this country,” said Lady Gaga, co-founder of Born This Way Foundation. Cynthia Germanotta, president and co-founder of Born This Way Foundation, said, “Knowing how to spot the signs that someone in our lives is experiencing a mental health challenge and understanding how we can support that person is a basic life skill we all need to have — especially teenagers.”