Substance Abuse & Mental Health Resources

Rural communities generally lack mental health/substance abuse services, compared to urban areas, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts.  I hope you find these resources useful in helping you address this gap.

 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will fund adolescent treatment programs with Family Centered Substance Abuse Treatment Grants.   They will award grants up to $300,000 to programs that provide substance abuse services to adolescents and their families.  Proposals must be built around evidence-based practices, specifically the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) and Assertive Continuing Care (ACC).  Awardees will receive ongoing training and support in these models.  Proposals are due April 24.

 

To assist in becoming more familiar with the Assertive Community Treatment model, SAMHSA has produced  the ACT Toolkit.  The goal of this treatment model is “to help people stay out of the hospital and to develop skills for living in the community, so that their mental illness is not the driving force in their lives.”  The toolkit consists of several guides you can download, or you can order a free cd/dvd which also includes a video.

 

SAMHSA has also published a series of reports, States in Brief, that provides an overview of substance abuse and mental health issues including the prevalence of substance use and abuse, treatment resources, and mental health indicators.  The Wisconsin report indicates that we’re among the highest in alcohol use for all age groups 12 and older.  We’re also consistently above the national average in unmet need for alcohol treatment.

 

A January report found that rural children are 20% less likely to receive  needed mental health care than urban children.  The report, Rural Children Don’t Receive the Mental Health Care They Need, found that although the need for mental health services is the same for rural and urban children, the difference in services provided is due to several factors, including cultural differences, stigma and the lack of mental health infrastructure.  Rural children on SCHIP or Medicaid were more likely to receive service than those with private or no insurance.

 

According to a recent WI Department of Natural Resources report, 2/3 of the 23 snowmobilers who died this winter were legally drunk.  Their average blood alcohol level was .195% (the legal limit is .08%).  The report describes the location and circumstances of each fatal accident.

March 27, 2009 · KJacobson · No Comments
Tags: , , , , ,  · Posted in: Grant Advice, Reports and Studies, Training and Tools

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