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 consists of three phases:
1) Landscape Analysis
2) Development of Action Plan
3) Implementation

The landscape analysis portion was completed in the summer of 2023. Our team is currently in the process of finalizing our action plan. As training opportunities become available, they will be listed on this page as well as the trainings page of the Center for Mental Health Promotion website. We plan to provide training opportunities for direct support professionals and care coordinators/case managers, individuals with disabilities and their family members and caregivers, and mental health providers.

Current MHIDD Training Opportunities

The Utah MHIDD Training Iniative 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 is a subcontract with the Utah Department of Health & Human Services Office of Health Equity.  

The first year of this project focused on gathering information on the needs of individuals in rural areas related to employment, mental health, and disability. 

The second and third years of this project have focused on creating and disseminating culturally adapted trainings and materials to help alleviate the negative detriments of the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., access to health resources, mental health concerns, employment concerns) for individuals with disabilities and culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Primarily, these trainings and materials have been provided to community-based organizations and local health departments through technical assistance and training requests.