Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
October 15, 2007, Vol. 07-168

SAMHSA Awards $4.2 Million for Statewide Consumer Network Grants

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced the award of 20 grants totaling almost $4.2 million over three years to help consumer organizations around the country work with policymakers and service providers to improve services for persons living with serious mental illnesses.

"Today, nearly every state has an active consumer organization dedicated to promoting care and support services that are responsive to the needs of people with mental illnesses," said SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline, Ph.D. "These grants will help continue to drive the mental health system toward providing recovery-oriented services."

Grantees are encouraged to work in partnership with their state's Mental Health Transformation State Incentive Grant staff toward achieving common statewide consumer network goals. Grants funds will be used to support activities such as:

• Improvement of community services to include creating individualized plans of care; developing anti-stigma initiatives; interacting with the criminal justice system; supporting employment programs; developing supports for returning veterans);
• Improvement of cultural competence issues ,which include rights protection; responsiveness to diverse needs of racial and ethnic minorities; outreach to rural, minority, and older adult populations;
• Policy development to improve and support establishment of standards of care, alternatives to seclusion and restraint, and the development/revision of credentialing, licensure, or accreditation requirements; and,
• Tele-health education and other on-line supports, including the creation of personal recovery pages.

Each grant recipient will receive approximately $70,000 per year for up to three years. Continuation of these awards is subject to both availability of funds and progress achieved by the grantees. Total funding for year one is .4 million. This grant program will be administered by SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services. The grantees are:

• NAMI Alaska, Anchorage -- $70,000
• California Network of Mental Health Clients, Sacramento -- $70,000
• Advocacy Unlimited, Inc., Weatherfield, Conn. -- $70,000
• Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network, Decatur -- $70,000
• United Self-Help, Honolulu, Hawaii -- $70,000
• Kentucky Consumer Advocate, Louisville -- $70,000
• On Our Own of Maryland, Baltimore -- $70,000
• Advocacy Initiative Network of Maine, Bangor -- $70,000
• M-Power Inc., Roxbury, Mass. - $69,314
• Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Network, St. Paul, Minn. -- $70,000
• NAMI of Missouri, Jefferson City -- $70,000
• Mental Health Association of Nebraska, Lincoln -- $70,000
• Mental Health Empowerment Project, Inc., Albany, New York -- $69,985
• We CARE Network, Inc. Columbus, Ohio -- $70,000
• Oklahoma Mental Health Consumer Council, INC., Oklahoma City -- $70,000
• Mental Health Association of Oregon, Portland -- $70,000
• South Carolina SHARE, West Columbia - $69,999
• Texas Mental Health Consumers, Austin -- $70,000
• Vermont Psychiatric Survivors, Rutland -- $70,000
• Virginia Organization of Consumers Asserting Leadership, Inc., Richmond -- $70,000

For additional information about these grants and other SAMHSA programs, please visit www.samhsa.gov.

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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.