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Youth Programs
Youth Programs Slideshow
Parents & Teachers as Allies in Education
Parents & Teachers as Allies in Education is a two-hour in-service program that helps school professionals and parents identify early warning signs of early-onset mental illnesses in children and adolescents in schools.
It focuses on:
- specific, age-related symptoms of mental illnesses in youth
- how best to intervene
- sharing the lived experiences of clients and families.
"Cuentame" - a new Hispanic Youth Program
Primary Objectives:
- to raise awareness of mental health issues amongst teens
- supply information on how to self-identify symptoms and how to identify symptoms in others
- teach positive coping strategies
In addition, the group will also serve as a safe emotional outlet of expression for the teens. Facilitated peer discussion, hands on interaction, and guest speakers will be the primary mechanisms to convey the necessary information to up the attendee's awareness of mental health and illness.
This will be a peer group approach to bringing awareness and understanding of mental health as well as teaching positive coping strategies to deal with mental illness in order to avoid maladaptive adverse behavior such as substance abuse.
"Cuentame" targets Hispanic adolescents (ages 13-18) who demonstrate a deficit in knowledge of mental health and mental illness as well as proper coping strategies. Eligible students should be native or foreign born to parents of Hispanic decent. Eligible teens may also be those who show signs of maladaptive behavior stemming from mental illness such as aggression, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, defiance, or suicidal ideation.
The program will implement several social support mechanisms to achieve its objective:
- peer discussion/bonding
- attendee participation in self-evaluating materials
- attendee participation in self-expressive activities
- parental support, guest speakers and facilitator supplied information on workshop topics
Anticipated group size will be between 8 and 15 attendees with an average of 8 consecutively attended meetings.
Project Success PLUS
Project Success PLUS (Schools Using Coordinated Community Efforts to Strengthen Students) is a national model program that has been proven effective in preventing and reducing teen substance use.
Project Success PLUS; is an enhanced version of this student assistance program that includes a focus on behavioral health, and is currently in place in five districts in Sonoma County. Project Success PLUS works to reduce the factors that put students at risk for substance abuse, while working to enhance the factors that will promote behavioral health and protect students from the social and emotional risks associated with alcohol, tobacco and other drug use. This is accomplished by placing highly trained counselors in schools to provide a full range of substance use prevention and early intervention services.
NAMI makes presentations in high schools as prevention education where students are given a brief overview of mental illness and given a unique opportunity to hear an individual's personal experience with mental illness. NAMI Staff and Interns provide information about local resources available for teens and young adults over the course of the presentation. Please contact us to set up a free presentation.
