The New Windsor Police Department recently teamed up with the Orange County Youth Bureau to host two youth mental health first aid trainings for police and the Recreation Department.
Detective Michael Schwartz and Mental Health Crisis Intervention Team member Sgt. Christopher Sylvester, both of the New Windsor Police Department, were previously trained in providing mental health first aid for youths. They took the information they learned and used it to provide two separate Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) trainings in New Windsor.
Schwartz, Sylvester, Police Chief Robert Doss, and Orange County Youth Bureau YMHFA trainers Tiffany Niles and Michael Bark all worked together to provide two training exercises to town employees.
The first training recipients included New Windsor Police Department members, New Windsor Councilwoman Sylvia Santiago, and New Windsor Recreation Department Director Matt Veronesi. Santiago is also a member of the New Windsor Police Advisory Panel. The group then provided a second training seminar to additional New Windsor police officers, sergeants, and detectives.
Training participants learned to support a youth developing signs and symptoms of a mental illness or in an emotional crisis by applying a core five-step action plan.
YMHFA teaches participants the risk factors and warning signs of a variety of mental health challenges common among adolescents, including anxiety, depression, psychosis, eating disorders, AD/HD, disruptive behavior disorders, and substance use disorder.
