Crittenton Center has received a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration totaling $200,000 per year for three years. The Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT) grant will provide Crittenton Center employees and other community-based agencies with no-cost training on recognizing the signs and symptoms of mental disorders and how to de-escalate crises involving individuals with a mental illness safely.
Kim Scorza, CEO of Crittenton Center, says, “We are very excited to be awarded this funding. Many youth we care for in our homeless shelter have significant mental health and substance abuse conditions that impact their daily lives. Their parents also have these same struggles, so the children have been removed from their parent’s care in the first place. We sought this funding to better equip not only our own employees but also to train school personnel and emergency services personnel, including fire department and law enforcement and others interested in learning how to respond to youth and adults in a mental health crisis.”
Scorza adds, “With this grant, we will be able to provide education and information on mental health resources available in the community and help provide linkages to community-based mental health agencies.”
Crittenton Center’s homeless shelter, since its reopening in 2022, has focused on providing specialized trauma-informed services for the youth in their care. These services include mental health therapy, substance abuse counseling, therapeutic supervised visitation, and intensive, individualized case management.