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Title

Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT)

Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT) prepares individuals and communities to respond appropriately and safely to persons with mental health challenges and or disorders, particularly those with serious mental illness (SMI) and/or serious emotional disturbances (SED).

As a result of MHAT, individuals receive the knowledge, skills, confidence, and resources to engage with someone experiencing mental health and/or substance use challenges. Individuals trained might use these skills and resources to help others access needed mental health care or other services from within their own families, places of employment, communities, or places of worship.

To meet the unique needs of their communities, MHAT-awarded grantees implement various evidence-based/ evidence-informed curricula of their choice to train the mental health and related workforce, school/higher education systems, first responders, law enforcement, diverse human service organizations, and others who interface with youth and adults at risk for mental health and/or substance use challenges.

Current Grantees

MHAT Successes 2018-2023

  • 244,680 individuals in the mental health and related workforce have been trained in mental health related practices and activities
  • 487,459 total individuals have been trained in prevention or mental health promotion
  • 543,546 individuals have been referred to mental health or related services
  • 80% of individuals have demonstrated improvement in knowledge/attitudes/beliefs related to prevention and/or mental health promotion

Point of Contact

Nancy Kelly, M.S. Ed, Acting Chief, Mental Health Promotion Branch, nancy.kelly@samhsa.hhs.gov

Last Updated: 09/12/2023