Description
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services, is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2016 Statewide Family Network Program grants. The purpose of this program is to enhance state capacity and infrastructure to better respond to the needs of children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances (SED) and their families by providing information, referrals, and support to families who have a child, youth, or adolescent with mental health challenges, and to create a mechanism for families to participate in state and local mental health services planning and policy development. By strengthening the knowledge and capacity of families with children who have mental health challenges to act as agents of transformation in influencing the type and amount of services provided to them and their children, SAMHSA expects to enhance services and systems, improvement outcomes, and mental health care that is family-driven and youth-guided. The Statewide Family Network Program builds on the work of SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services, which helped to establish a child and family focus in programs serving children and adolescents with mental health challenges around the country. Today, nearly every state has active family organizations dedicated to promoting systems of care that are responsive to the needs of children and adolescents with mental health challenges and their families. Although significant progress has been made, further support will ensure self-sufficient, empowered networks that will effectively participate in state and local mental health services planning and behavioral health service planning activities related to improving community-based services for children and adolescents with mental health challenges and their families. SAMHSA has demonstrated that behavioral health is essential to health, prevention works, treatment is effective, and people recover from mental and substance use disorders. Behavioral health services improve health status and reduce health care and other costs to society. Continued improvement in the delivery and financing of prevention, treatment, and recovery support services provides a cost effective opportunity to advance and protect the nation’s health. To continue to improve the delivery and financing of prevention, treatment, and recovery support services, SAMHSA has identified six Strategic Initiatives to focus the Agency’s work on improving lives and capitalizing on emerging opportunities. The Statewide Family Network Program closely aligns with SAMHSA’s Recovery Support Strategic Initiative. The Statewide Family Network Program seeks to address behavioral health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities by encouraging the implementation of strategies to decrease the differences in access, service use, and outcomes among the racial and ethnic minority populations served. (See PART II: Appendix F – Addressing Behavioral Health Disparities.) The Statewide Family Network Program grants are authorized under section 520A of the Public Health Service Act, as amended. This announcement addresses Healthy People 2020 Mental Health and Mental Disorders Topic Area HP2020-MHMD.