IHS and Boys & Girls Clubs Partner to Expand Services to Native Youth
Jun 22, 2017 - Blog post from the Indian Health Service (IHS) about their collaboration with Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) Native Services. Together, they aim to discourage risky behaviors among American Indian and Alaska Native youth using early intervention strategies with a particular focus on methamphetamine use and suicide.
Source: Indian Health Service Blog
view details

SAMHSA Announces $44.6 Million in Grants to Expand the Behavioral Healthcare Workforce
Jun 21, 2017 - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced funding of up to $44.6 million to develop the healthcare workforce to treat substance use disorders and support recovery. Grantees for the Addiction Technology Transfer Centers Cooperative Agreements will establish a network to collaborate with SAMHSA and with each other to improve treatment and recovery nationwide.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details

SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) Highlights the New Learning Center
Jun 20, 2017 - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has launched a Learning Center for the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) website. This Learning Center provides tools and resources to help behavioral health practitioners build effective, evidence-based or culture-based programs and explore emerging practices and programs.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details

New SAMHSA Report Shows the Availability of Supported Employment in Specialty Mental Health Treatment Facilities
Jun 15, 2017 - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a report, Availability of Supported Employment in Specialty Mental Health Treatment Facilities and Facility Characteristics: 2014 on the availability of vocational rehabilitation services and supported employment in specialty mental health treatment facilities in the U.S. Among other things, the report found that 75.4% of mental health facilities did not offer any employment services in 2014.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details

Long After ’80s Farm Crisis, Farm Workers Still Take Own Lives at High Rate
Jun 14, 2017 - According to a new study from the University of Iowa, farmer suicide rates are significantly higher than those of any other occupation. In the 1980s, more than 1,000 farmers committed suicide as a result of losing their farms to foreclosure. Though rates have gone down since that time, they are still worryingly high due to a number of stressors including physical isolation, physical pain, lack of access to healthcare, especially mental health care, the stigma attached to seeking out mental healthcare, and financial stress.
Source: Iowa Now
view details

HHS Awards $72.5 Million in Funding for Youth Mental Health Services
Jun 13, 2017 - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded $72.5 million to seven states and one local government agency through its Expansion and Sustainability of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances Program, also known as the Children's Mental Health Initiative. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will distribute the funding to Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and a county in Maryland.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details

SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Barometer Provides Key In-depth Information on the Nation’s Behavioral Health
Jun 12, 2017 - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released a report providing an overview of behavioral health in the U.S. including the prevalence of substance abuse, serious mental illness, serious thoughts of suicide, and related treatment broken down by age, gender, racial and ethnic categories, poverty status, and health insurance status. This report, the Behavioral Health Barometer, United States, Volume 4, is available online.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details

SAMHSA Awards up to $34.4 Million in Grants to Improve Treatment for Youth with Substance Use Disorders and/or Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Disorders
Jun 9, 2017 - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) awarded up to $34.4 million over four years to 10 states and the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma to improve treatment of substance use disorders and/or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders in adolescents and transitional aged youth. These grants were issued through the Cooperative Agreements for Adolescent and Transitional Aged Youth Treatment Implementation program.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details

New VA Online Tool Helps Veterans Learn About and Compare Effective PTSD Treatments
Jun 2, 2017 - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the launch of the PTSD Treatment Decision Aid, a free online tool to help veterans compare treatment options for post-traumatic stress disorder. The tool provides education on different treatments, including video testimonials from veterans who have used that treatment method.
Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
view details

Federal Government-wide Effort Underway to Better Address Serious Mental Illness
May 25, 2017 - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced the formation of the Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (ISMICC), an interagency initiative to address serious mental illness created under the 21st Century Cures Act. The ISMICC aims to foster coordination of federal agencies' efforts related to serious mental illness.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details

SAMHSA: Call for Nominations for the Non-Federal Members of the Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (ISMICC) Federal Register
May 24, 2017 - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is seeking nominations for the non-federal members of the Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (ISMICC), which was created as part of the recently enacted 21st Century Cures Act. ISMICC will coordinate federal efforts related to serious mental illness and provide recommendations to Congress and other relevant federal agencies. At least one member of ISMICC must be a mental health professional with clinical or research experience working with medically underserved populations. Nominations are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on June 2, 2017.
Source: Federal Register
view details

SAMHSA Is Accepting Applications for up to $39.5 Million in Grants to Prevent Suicide
May 19, 2017 - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is accepting applications for up to $700,000 per year for five years for the implementation of suicide prevention and intervention programs for people 25 and older. SAMHSA expects to fund 13 grantees through this Cooperative Agreements to Implement Zero Suicide in Health Systems program. The Zero Suicide model, which would be implemented throughout the grantee's health system, is a comprehensive, multi-setting approach designed to raise awareness, establish referral processes, and improve care and outcomes for people who are at risk of suicide.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details

Rural Telehealth Growth Dramatic but Uneven
May 2, 2017 - Highlights the results of a new study from Harvard Medical School and the RAND corporation which found that although there has been an average increase of 45% for behavioral and mental telehealth visits for rural patients in the last ten years, there is significant variation between states. Also explores some explanations for the increase as well as the large differences between states.
Source: HealthLeaders Media
view details