Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
March 3, 2006, Vol. 06-25

CMHS/STAR Center Scholarships for Alternatives

The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Support Technical Assistance Resource Center (STAR Center), a CMHS funded consumer supporter technical assistance center, are providing financial support to consumers of mental health services who wish to participate in the 2006 Alternatives meeting. The meeting "Blazing the Trail to Recovery through Transformation" will be held in Portland, Oregon. Hosted by CONTAC, a CMHS funded consumer technical assistance center. This important conference promotes recovery, self-help, and empowerment. Alternatives will be held at the Marriott Portland Downtown Waterfront, October 25-29, 2006.

In order to give more newcomers the opportunity to attend Alternatives 2006, more partial scholarships and less full scholarships will be provided than in previous years. That is, rather than receiving the full scholarships assistance for airfare, lodging, ground transportation, registration and meals, scholarship recipients will be expected to pick up part of the expenses. Consumers who are awarded scholarships are expected to find additional funding support to help pay for their attendance to the conference. Also, those who have never previously attended Alternatives will be given a higher priority in the selection process.

Other criteria for scholarship recipients will include quality and completeness of application, stated reasons for wanting to attend, plans for disseminating conference information, current involvement in mental health and consumer organizations along with considerations for diversity, race and ethnicity, and geographic representation. A selection committee will be formed with consumer representatives. Applicants will be notified promptly on the status of their applications.

The announcement for application information for conference scholarships will soon be available. Watch the CMHS Consumer Affairs E-news for the information. To sign-up for the CMHS E-news, go to web site http://samhsa.gov, click on Consumer/Survivor, scroll to bottom of page and sign up at CMHS Consumer Affairs E-news
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The Center for Mental Health Services is a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, United States Department of Health and Human Services.