Our Training Projects

The Utah MHIDD Training Initiative

The Utah Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (MHIDD) Training Initiative is a five-year grant funded by the Administration on Community Living (ACL). The funding program’s goal is to improve services and supports for people with co-occurring intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and mental health concerns, including services and supports that are more culturally competent, person-centered, affordable, and integrated that allow them to remain in the community.

This project began in 2021 and concludes in 2026. The project consists of three phases:
1) A statewide Landscape Analysis
2) Development of an Action Plan to address training needs
3) Implementation of the training plan to improve competencies

Current MHIDD Training Opportunities

The Utah MHIDD Training Initiative is currently offering an ECHO training series for mental health professionals and disability service providers (ECHO model). The objectives of the ECHO series are:

• Increase mental health provider knowledge and capacity to provide effective mental health services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
• Increase disability service provider knowledge of available mental health services.
• Increase collaboration and coordination between disability and mental health services providers.

National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk

The National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk (OT-21) project is funded by the United States Center for Disease Prevention and Control to the Utah Department of Health & Human Services Office of Health Equity, who subcontracted with the Institute for Disability Research, Policy, and Practice. 

The project seeks to build capacity around supporting the mental health and employment opportunities of individuals with disabilities in rural communities during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. By working collaboratively with individuals in rural communities, businesses, providers, and state leaders the Center for Mental Health Promotion is building capacity to support rural communities. 

As part of the project, one-on-one trainings, technical assistance, and access to educational materials can be provided. If you are interested in learning more about the project and resources, please reach out to us on our contact page and indicate that you are interested in talking about our “Health Disparities” work. 

Western Regional Agriculture Stress Assistance Program

This project is funded by the USDA Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network.

This project has funded the development of several online mental health literacy programs that help individuals learn how to identify mental health concerns, locate mental health care resources in their community, and develop skills to refer someone who might be experiencing a mental health concern to appropriate resources.