Home > Success Stories > Northeast & Caribbean MHTTC: Supporting the Mental Health of Puerto Rican Youth
Puerto Rican teenagers have unique mental health needs due to the traumatic events that have occurred since 2017 (e.g., Hurricanes Irma and María, ongoing earthquakes and aftershocks starting in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic). One way that the Comprehensive Adolescent Health Services (SISA, in Spanish) Program of the Puerto Rico Department of Health is helping to serve teenagers, is through a youth promoters program, in which youth aged 10 to 14 (6-8th grade) serve as “peers teaching peers” and provide messages promoting good health and the prevention of risky behaviors in school, the community, and/or within their families. The SISA Program identified that their coordinators, who represent Puerto Rico’s school regions and educate youth promoters, needed more education and training on youth mental health. Starting in September 2021 (and currently ongoing), the Northeast and Caribbean MHTTC has provided technical assistance on youth mental health to the SISA Program and their coordinators, with the ultimate goal of boosting mental health awareness across Puerto Rican youth.
The opinions expressed herein are the views of the authors and do not reflect the official position of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), SAMHSA, CSAT or the MHTTC Network. No official support or endorsement of DHHS, SAMHSA, or CSAT for the opinions of authors presented in this e-publication is intended or should be inferred.