“Attention animal care and control professionals!
Do you want to gain easy-to-use evidence-based tools and increase your confidence in and ability to deal with mental health situations in your work as an animal care and control professional? Do you want to be able to better support your co-workers and volunteers when they are experiencing mental health challenges, and/or more effectively handle mental health crisis situations you encounter on your field service calls? If so, national MHFA certification is for you and NACA in Partnership with the National Council for Mental Wellbeing is forming a first of its kind to be offered strickly to animal care and control professionals!
What is Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)?
- MHFA is a nationally recognized set of go-to key skills – called an “action plan” – used to provide effective early intervention and help to someone developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis.
- MHFA is a research-based strategy, listed on the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices.
How does one become nationally certified in MHFA?
To become a nationally certified MHFA provider, you must complete an MHFA certification course in accordance with national standards and content from the National Council for Wellbeing. The MHFA certification course offered through NACA is in full compliance with all national standards and content.
The NACA-offered MHFA certification course consists of:
- 2 hours of virtual self-paced content.
- 6 hours of virtual instructor*-led training via Zoom (includes a 30 min lunch and two 15 min breaks)
(TBD) - 1 hour of post-Zoom self-paced content.
- $170
Upon completion of the MHFA certification course, you will be nationally certified in MHFA!
ACOs and other animal welfare professionals from anywhere in the United States are welcome to register! You must be 18 years of age or older to attend this course.
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training is offered through a partnership between NACA and Open Door Veterinary Collective (ODVC). The course instructor is Kaitlyn O’Neel, LICSW, VSW-CP, a Veterinary Social Worker and certified MHFA instructor at ODVC. Kaitlyn is a licensed clinical social worker with experience supporting and training animal welfare professionals. She previously served as a full-time social worker at Seattle Humane and is a co-author of the National Social Work Guidelines in Animal Welfare (2025), funded by the ASPCA.
