Meeting the mental health needs of youth before crisis: Utilizing warmlines
The mental health of youth and young adults has been a significant concern across the country in recent years. Increased needs for mental health services and support have not been met with adequate resources for care and treatment, often leading youth to the point of crisis. Services for youth struggling with their mental health, along with those living with a serious mental illness, are more necessary than ever.
Having someone to talk with, making a connection, and finding resources can help prevent youth struggling with their mental health from reaching a point of crisis. Warmlines increase access to mental health services for young people who are struggling while also providing them with meaningful care and connection. Warmlines can offer a different approach to care and support for many youths experiencing mental health concerns or living with a serious mental illness.
In this free, 90-minute webinar, presenters from MHA Minnesota and MHA of Montana will discuss:
- Best practices for focusing on youth mental health crisis prevention
- How warmlines are providing new approaches to care and support in order to address the lack of available mental health resources for youth and young adults
- What warmlines are doing for youth with mental health concerns and how peer support plays an important role
This is a SAMHSA-Sponsored webinar.
Live closed captioning and ASL interpreters will be available for this webinar.
Presenters
Shannah Mulvihill has served as the executive director of Mental Health Minnesota since 2015 and serves as a Regional Policy Council Representative for Mental Health America. She has worked in the non-profit and public sectors for 20+ years in communications, development, public policy, and organizational leadership and has served as a volunteer counselor for the Walk-In Counseling Clinic in Minneapolis and as a crisis counselor for the 988 Suicide and Criss Lifeline (Crisis Connection).
Michelle Aune has been the Executive Director for MHA of Montana for the last seven years. Michelle has been with MHA of MT for 13 years and the last four years have focused on prevention services for youth in northeast Montana, working with law enforcement, youth probation, schools, clergy, families, and community health centers. She has also rolled out their new service: Montana’s Disaster Plan – Montana Crisis Recovery Project to help with the COVID-19 isolation throughout all our hot spots.
Genea Fields is the Program Director for MHA of Montana. Genea manages the Montana Warmline Program, the Montana Crisis Counseling lines, and all their employees. In her role, she works to deliver a continuum of care, re-routing callers depending on their specific needs, providing support for her community.