More than 2,500 New York teenagers have completed Mental Health First Aid training since the program was introduced in high schools last year, and state officials plan to dramatically expand the initiative in the coming years.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced this week that participation in Teen Mental Health First Aid has increased 71% since the training was incorporated into schools during the summer of 2025. The governor also highlighted a $17.5 million investment included in the state’s fiscal year 2027 budget aimed at making the program available to all 10th-grade students statewide.
State officials said the expanded funding will eventually provide training to more than 180,000 students annually. The program received $3.5 million when it was first introduced in schools and is expected to train roughly 25,000 students during the 2026-27 academic year as funding ramps up.
Teen Mental Health First Aid teaches students ages 14 to 18 how to recognize signs of mental health and substance use challenges among their peers and how to respond appropriately. The curriculum also addresses bullying, school violence, self-care and strategies for connecting classmates with trusted adults when additional support is needed.
Twenty-one school districts participated in the program during the past academic year, including Lansingburgh and Rensselaer in the Capital Region. According to state officials, Lansingburgh trained 337 students while Rensselaer trained 135. An additional 410 adults completed Youth Mental Health First Aid training, which is designed for adults who work with young people.
The state Office of Mental Health reported that the expansion helped train 49 new Youth Mental Health First Aid instructors and 37 new Teen Mental Health First Aid instructors. Altogether, more than 6,100 teens and 3,150 adults have received the training statewide.
Mental health advocates and educators have increasingly focused on peer-to-peer support, noting that teenagers often turn to friends before seeking help from adults when facing emotional distress or substance use issues. State officials said feedback gathered during a youth mental health listening tour in 2023 helped shape the decision to expand the program statewide.
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