Shrewsbury Youth and Family Services, Inc. Official LogoState Representative Hannah Kane and State Senator Michael Moore announced that funding was secured in the Fiscal Year 2020 state budget to support programs at Shrewsbury Youth and Family Services (SYFS).
The Shrewsbury representatives highlighted in a press release that the SYFS Youth Mental Health First Aid program received $50,000 in funds.
The mentioned program prepares parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, and other members of the community on how to help adolescents experiencing mental health or addiction challenges or different types of crises. In the past year alone, SYFS trained 442 adults with hundreds more scheduled for training over the next several months, according to the information submitted.
“Adolescence is the peak age of onset for mental illness,” said Christine Mowry, Executive Director of SYFS. “Twenty percent of youth ages thirteen to eighteen live with a mental health condition.”
“I am proud to have secured funding for SYFS to continue offering Youth Mental Health First Aid training to adults that interact with our youth so that these trusted adults can more easily detect youth who are struggling and connect them to appropriate mental health resources and services,” Shrewsbury State Representative Hannah Kane said.
“SYFS is truly making a difference in the local community and across the region,” said Senator Moore.
Since the program’s inception, SYFS has trained nearly 900 adults, and the results of the program “have been a tremendous success,” the press release highlights.
The mission of SYFS is to “provide counseling and other supportive services to members of our community.” Founded in 1983, the organization is Shrewsbury’s only private, non-profit human service agency and primary provider of social services for low-income families. Education officials interested in scheduling training for their schools should contact Christine Mowry at [email protected].
Subscribe to The Shrewsbury Post Updates
