Recent News

Editors' Note: This story ran in our January newsletter, published Jan. 6.   In early December, the Mid-America MHTTC selected nine teams from schools and districts in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska to participate in our inaugural Regional School Mental Health Learning Community beginning this month.   The Learning Community, conducted in partnership with the National Center on […]

January 2, 2020 The Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) has been engaged in efforts to implement new Psychiatric Advance Directives* (PAD) legislation in Colorado. As part of this engagement, a Mountain Plains MHTTC staff member attended workgroup meetings, helped create training materials for the general public, and contributed to the development of […]

December 30, 2019 Rural communities have become the symbol of the opioid epidemic. Deaths from drug overdose are more common in rural areas than in urban areas, this is partially because rural communities have far less access to treatment and care for addiction than more populated regions. The burden of responding to the opioid epidemic […]

See the wealth of trainings and events on the National MHTTC Training and Events Calendar!

December 17. 2019 Nationally, law enforcement officers are the most likely responder to encounter a person experiencing a mental health crisis. For this reason, law enforcement agencies and state legislators have been working to improve compliance efforts and establish alternatives to divert people with mental health issues away from participation in the criminal justice system. […]

December 11, 2019 Farm Bureau, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the National Farmers Union have partnered on a program offering both online and in-person trainings to those who interact with farmers to provide them with the tools to identify signs of stress and other mental health concerns. Farmers experience higher levels of psychological distress […]

Check it out!  We are featured in a front page article in the Winter 2019-2020 edition of the NJAMHAA News, titled Free Training and Assistance Available on Many Prevention and Treatment Topics.

December 12, 2019 After being shaken by the suicide of a coworker, the co-owner of the RK construction company, Jon Kinning, worked with mental health experts to put together a suicide prevention model specific to the construction industry. “Construction and mining (including oil drilling) have the highest suicide rates of all occupations, according to data […]

December 11, 2019 The Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center team is dedicated to addressing rural mental health. However, they also recognize that the agricultural community encounter unique challenges related to the accessibility, availability, and acceptability of mental health services. In response, specific trainings and resources have been developed to address mental health and […]

October 1, 2019 The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently released an evidence-based resource guide on First-Episode Psychosis and Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders. According to SAMHSA, “this guide supports healthcare providers, systems, and communities to address first-episode psychosis and co-occurring substance use disorders. It describes relevant research, examines emerging and best practices, […]

December 5, 2019 The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is requesting input on the draft National Institute of Mental Health Strategic Plan for Research. Your feedback can help guide the future of mental health research efforts and priorities at NIMH. Every five years, NIMH publishes a Strategic Plan for Research to accelerate progress in […]

December 5, 2019 The Rural Health Information Hub in partner with the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis has developed a new issue guide on farmer mental health and suicide prevention. This new issue guide discusses the rising mental health crisis in farming communities and provides information on organizations and model programs that are […]

This fall, the governor of Oklahoma commuted over 500 individuals’ sentences, marking the largest single-commutation in American history. The act of clemency applied to individuals convicted of a non-violent offense. The governor’s orders come at the heels of Oklahoma reclassifying certain minor felonies as misdemeanors in 2016. All this, though great news for criminal justice […]

Editors' Note: This story ran in our December newsletter, published Dec. 2.       The first-ever quarterly meeting of the Mid-America Technology Transfer Center (TTC) Advisory Board took place on Nov. 21 in Omaha.   The board is a joint effort between the Mid-America Addiction, Mental Health, and Prevention TTCs, and members are comprised of state leadership in […]

Editors' Note: This story ran in our December newsletter, published Dec. 2.   Mid-America MHTTC lent its expertise in school mental health to attendees of the National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH)'s annual conference Nov. 7-9 in Austin, Texas.   "The Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health was an excellent opportunity for us to learn […]

Study & Article by Eric Bruns, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences,  Northwest MHTTC Director of Evaluation and School Mental Health  What does it take to get evidence-based mental health treatment to people in need? That’s a question researchers sought to answer in a newly published study in Implementation Science.  “This research is critical […]

Every year across our country on the last Thursday of November, families, friends, and loved ones gather to share a meal and give thanks. While many of us recognize the holiday as a celebration of gratitude, with little connection to our ancestral ties, the tradition is rooted in the false depiction of grateful Pilgrims breaking […]

The New England Early Psychosis Learning Collaborative (EPLC) is dedicated to using evidence-based means to disseminate evidence-based practices for working with people in the early stages of psychosis. The collaborative engages members through a number of initiatives including:   Webinars Online discussion series Consultation lines Clinical briefs In-person training opportunities E-mail updates   Links to […]

In October 2019, we co-sponsored not one, but two exciting events that engaged over 70 people from schools, districts, providers, and communities in Idaho with our partners at the Idaho Positive Behavior Network (IPBN) and Optum Idaho.  The first event was held on October 17th, 2019 and was a hands-on, full-day training for elementary, middle, […]

Editors' Note: This story ran in our November newsletter, published Nov. 1.   The Mid-America MHTTC in September held its first formal training of personnel at Millard Public Schools (MPS), an Omaha district comprised of 35 schools and more than 24,000 students. Ninety-four educators and mental health professionals attended the training.   This session followed […]

Editors' Note: This story ran in our November newsletter, published Nov. 1.   The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a Mental Health Services Professional Demonstration Grant to a band of school districts in Nebraska, facilitating a new internship training program in school mental health.   The grant, $500,000 per year for up to five […]

November 18, 2019 This North Dakota Soldier Reached the Brink of Suicide, Now He's Spreading His Message to Other Vets In a recent article published by Robin Huebner in the Inforum, Sgt. Nathan Griffin described his struggles with substance use and the moment he had considered suicide. He now shares his darkest moment, and how […]

November 17, 2019 Suicide Numbers Keep Rising in North Dakota and Minnesota, but There's Help and Hope “In both North Dakota and Minnesota, the number of suicides has increased steadily for more than a decade, according to state figures. Solving the problem is complex, because the risk factors for suicide are so varied and difficult […]

Editors' Note: This story ran in our November newsletter, published Nov. 1.   The Mid-America MHTTC hosted the Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care: Creating the Medical Home Conference on Oct. 18.   The Center's first conference of Year 2, held at the University of Nebraska Omaha, welcomed approximately 25 attendees who participated in engaging breakout sessions […]