New York has an ambitious goal: to offer Teen Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) to every 10th grader in the state over the next five years. That’s more than 180,000 students each year. Reaching students across a state as varied as New York requires more than a strong curriculum or a large funding commitment. It takes infrastructure, local ownership and a plan for scale. On a recent episode of The State of Mental Wellbeing: A Podcast on Mental Health & Substance Use, host Mohini Venkatesh spoke with two experts about exactly what it takes.
Katie Oldakowski is the senior director of training and programs at the Mental Health Association in New York State (MHANYS), making her a key player in the state’s MHFA implementation efforts. Tramaine EL-Amin is vice president of MHFA, training and consulting at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, bringing deep knowledge of the ways MHFA training can change lives. Their conversation emphasized how local champions and strong partnerships — plus a special road map coming this fall — help communities expand mental health support.
The Importance of Peer Support in Youth Mental Health
For a decade, mental health education has been required in New York’s schools. Early on, schools offered Youth MHFA, which teaches parents, coaches, teachers and other adults to help young people ages 12-18 who may be experiencing mental health or substance use challenges. But the reality is that when a teen is struggling, they’re more likely to reach out to a peer first.
State leaders recognized the need for a peer support network in schools, and they saw Teen MHFA as an effective way to build that network. In the first two years of offering the program, New York schools trained more than 6,000 students each year. Seeing that success, leaders started dreaming of a much larger-scale implementation.
Scaling Teen MHFA Across New York
When the podcast episode was recorded, passage of the state budget wasn’t assured, but it has since passed and includes a $17.5 million investment to expand the Teen MHFA program throughout the state. The financial commitment is crucial for statewide implementation. The model needs to work in New York City, across smaller cities, and in rural counties and frontier communities, each with different capacity, staffing and access needs.
To help each school deliver Teen MHFA with quality and confidence, the initiative relies on a network of school and community partners, local Instructors and technical assistance from MHANYS. One of the key lessons from New York’s effort is that large-scale implementation depends on the support of strong champions within the community. These champions build buy-in, advocate for resources, keep the work visible and help embed it within schools and organizations. As trusted local voices and credible messengers, they make training efforts more relevant, effective and lasting.
“It really is that group of individuals who not only champion the work, but also bring voice to the other challenges a community
might be facing.”
— Tramaine EL-Amin
A Road Map for Communitywide Implementation
As New York has pursued its statewide Teen MHFA implementation, it participated as a pilot site to test drive an exciting new tool: the Communitywide MHFA Implementation Road Map, funded by the Humana Foundation. This guide helps groups of community and organizational leaders assess their needs, identify the right partners and build a plan for growth that’s tailored to their local context. It’s informed by implementation science, research and accumulated experience gleaned from other large-scale efforts. Based on New York’s experience as a pilot site, Oldakowski said that the road map helps break a complex statewide implementation into manageable steps and “takes the intimidation out of it.”
Start Local and Build for Lasting Change
Oldakowski and EL-Amin emphasize that communities shouldn’t compare their starting point with the current scale of MHFA programming in a state like New York. Major achievements are built gradually through advocacy, partnerships, persistence and a willingness to learn from setbacks. The key is to start where you are and build from there. Rather than trying to launch a communitywide program all at once, start with a defined population and clear local need. Also, keep MHFA connected to a broader mental health strategy. Training is a powerful component, but durable change depends on the systems and supports that surround it.
From Classroom Learning to Lifelong Impact
Over the next five years, New York will work toward its goal, and thousands of young people will gain life-changing skills and knowledge. The impact will only grow from there, as these teens become a new generation of adults equipped with mental health literacy and confidence.
This is the promise of the Communitywide MHFA Implementation Road Map. It will help communities turn ambition and good intentions into a practical sequence of steps, while preserving the flexibility for local realities. It puts large-scale MHFA implementation within reach for communities of all sizes and resource levels.
“We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure that this becomes the mental health literacy standard.”
— Katie Oldakowski
New York’s commitment to youth mental health sets a powerful example for communities across the country. While the Communitywide MHFA Implementation Road Map won’t be available until this fall, you can fill out the information request form today to learn more about the tool and connect with the MHFA team.
Listen to this latest episode and subscribe to The State of Mental Wellbeing: A Podcast on Mental Health & Substance Use wherever you get your podcasts.
