The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has awarded up to $294 million for programs that help promote prevention and treatment of mental health and substance use disorders among tribal children, adolescents, and young adults.
The grants are going to tribal communities across the country to expand and enhance behavioral health care services. The programs receiving grant money include:
- Circles of Care VI focuses on developing infrastructure to improve the mental health and wellness of children, youth, and families in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. The program provides tribal and urban AI/AN communities with tools and resources to plan and design a holistic, community-based, coordinated system of care. In the system of care approach, families and youth work in partnership with public and private organizations to design mental health services and supports that are effective, build on the strengths of individuals, and address each person’s cultural and linguistic needs, according to SAMHSA. The program also aims to address “historically traumatic events” that have resulted in a significant loss of culture, language, and traditional ways of life;
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- State/Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention Cooperative Agreements support states and tribes (including Alaska villages and urban AI organizations) in developing and implementing statewide or tribal youth suicide prevention and early intervention strategies via public/private collaboration among schools, juvenile justice systems, foster care systems, substance abuse and mental health programs, and other organizations that support children and youth. Among other goals, funding will boost the number of people trained to identify and refer youth at risk for suicide as well as improve continuity of care and follow-up for at-risk youth discharged from emergency departments and inpatient psychiatric units;
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- SAMHSA Treatment Drug Courts enhance substance abuse treatment services in existing adult Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts (the tribal version of adult drug courts) and in Juvenile Treatment Drug Courts (tribal or nontribal). Drug courts are specially designed court calendars intended to reduce recidivism and substance abuse and increase successful habilitation through early, continuous, and intense judicially supervised treatment. Although nearly 2,500 drug courts were created in 2012, many lack the funding they need for substance abuse treatment, SAMHSA said. The administration’s goal is to meet the clinical needs of clients and ensure that they are treated using evidence-based practices consistent with the disease model and the problem-solving model, rather than with the traditional court case-processing model.
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“SAMHSA has a deep commitment to helping tribes advance the behavioral health services of their communities, particularly with regard to tribal youth,” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde. “It is essential that these young people have access to all the prevention, treatment, and recovery services they may need, so that they—and the tribes—can flourish.”
