HARRISVILLE — Partners in Prevention is mid-point in a four-year Mental Health and Awareness Training Project grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

This grant covers Crisis Intervention Training for first responders, Situational Awareness Training for those on the front line, Mental Health First Aid, and Youth Mental Health First Aid for those wanting to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental illness, identify available resources for referrals, and safely deescalate a crisis, and ASIST and safeTALK to recognize individuals with thoughts of suicide and connect them to life-saving resources.

It also allows Partners in Prevention to build a Mental Health Resources webpage consisting of a comprehensive and regularly updated compilation of mental health resources in each community it serves.

Partners is working with many of Alcona County’s community resources (Alcona County Emergency Medical Services, the Alcona County Sheriff’s Department, Alcona County courts, the Alcona Township Fire Department, the Curtis Township Fire Department, the Barton City Fire Department, Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health, Alcona Heath Center, and MyMichigan Health to sign on as active community partners in the effort, with the hope that other service organizations and nonprofits will lend their support to make Alcona County part of a larger mental health Crisis Response Team.

Crisis intervention training for Alcona County first responders will take place on from 8 a.m. to noon March 5 at the Barton City Fire Department. That four-hour intensive program will be Partners’ fourth effort in that capacity, having previously done three successful trainings in Alpena, Presque Isle, and Montmorency counties. First responders in the neighboring three counties are welcome to join. The intent is to bring crisis training to and expand the website resources for all four counties.

In addition, from 1 to 4 p.m. on March 5 at the Barton City Fire Department, there will be a training on Situational Awareness and verbal diffusion available to those in public-facing positions in human resources, elder care, the school system, and those in the first line of contact, such as front desk, reception, and customer relation jobs. The objective of that program is to help people identify potentially distressed individuals and learn verbal diffusion and conflict resolution techniques to deescalate those encounters.