Project AWARE Warren County

AWARE Executive Advisory Board Administrators at Kings Receive YMHFA Training School Staff at Waynesville Receive YMHFA training YMHFA Training Held at Warren County ESC Transgender Workshop Transgender Workshop Frances Witt and Pat Clark facilitating Youth Mental First Aid training to educators in Warren County Trauma 201 Training Trauma 201 Training Project AWARE Ohio Team at the Advancing School Mental Health Conference in San Diego Vycki Haught presenting at the Advancing School Mental Health Conference in San Diego Vycki Haught and Angela Patchen (Wood County partner) presenting at the Advancing School Mental Health conference in San Diego Pat Clark, Vycki Haught and Kim Sellers-Project AWARE Warren County
Kim Sellers
Coord. Care Program Director (Supplemental/Project AWARE)

Project AWARE/Warren County
Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education

Kim Sellers, MSW, CTP, LISW-S-Grant Director
Vycki Haught, MSW, LSW-Grant Coordinator
Patricia Clark-YMHFA Trainer
Frances Witt-YMHFA Trainer

In October 2014, Warren County ESC was awarded a five-year, $2.4 million U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant for Project AWARE.  This is a collaborative partnership with ODE.  Wood and Cuyahoga counties also received this grant in Ohio.

Project AWARE is a result of President Obama's "Now is The Time" initiative to protect our young people from violence. One of the goals of this initiative is to improve Mental Health Services.  Through Ohio Project AWARE, Ohio will develop a modern, enhanced infrastructure to raise awareness of mental health needs among school aged youth and increase statewide and local capacity to develop, implement and sustain the delivery of integrated comprehensive, evidence-based mental health and behavioral health services for youth and families.  Warren County is one of only three counties in Ohio to receive this grant.

There are two components for Project AWARE Ohio/Warren County:

Component 1 addressed the mental health needs of youth, families, schools and communities with the following goals:

  • Increase mental health awareness of youth, families, schools and communities.
  • Promote a comprehensive and coordinated system for promoting wellness, safety and resilience.
  • Expand the delivery of integrated, comprehensive evidence-based mental health and behavioral health services for youth and families.

Component 2 addressed the "Now Is The Time" goal of early identification of mental health issues in young people. Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human service workers, emergency responders, and other caring citizens how to help and adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addiction challenge or is in crisis.

Please take a moment to look at the links to the right.  They contain valuable information regarding the initiatives we are taking in Warren County, as well as the Project AWARE newsletters, YMHFA information, upcoming YMHFA training dates, resources and information on our Executive Advisory Board and members.  If you are interested in receiving the training, please contact Vycki Haught at vycki.haught@warrencountyesc.com.