GA Discretionary Funding Fiscal Year 2017

The ARC and Trauma STARS program is the establishment of a Trauma-Informed
Mental Health Workforce, School Referral Network and Learning Collaborative to support trauma-focused services for uninsured or under insured children and young adults age 5-15 in identified Title 1 elementary and middle schools in Fulton and DeKalb Counties in Georgia and evidence-based trauma treatment for traumatized youth throughout the state.

The purpose of this program is to implement a project composed of five goals/objectives:
1) To increase school-based ARC services by delivering trauma-focused treatment and services in eight target schools.
2) To develop trauma-informed school environments and train school staff on trauma-informed practices aimed at transforming the culture from punitive to trauma-focused.
3) To develop a trauma-informed School Referral Network designed to train school staff in target and non-target schools.
4) To provide ARC training of mental health workers across the state on trauma-informed practices and form an ARC Collaborative that offers support, training and coaching to members.
5) To create an interactive, informative website where professionals and the public can go to find information, get referrals, register for training, receive coaching, and obtain support.

The City of Atlanta proposes the Atlanta Cooperative Agreement to Benefit Homeless Individuals (Atlanta CABHI) program to provide permanent housing, behavioral health treatment, and recovery supports to 480 chronically homeless persons. Atlanta CABHI will focus on serving those who are living in places not meant for human habitation. Local partner providers experienced in serving chronically homeless individuals with severe mental health and substance use disorders will provide services to program participants. Participants will be placed into permanent housing at enrollment. Of those housed, at least 70% will remain housed for 12 months or longer. Program participants will have access to behavioral health services and recovery supports as well as access to physical health care with services that are delivered directly to the individual right where outreach is conducted. Peer Support Specialists will walk clients through each step and provide a hand off to supportive services once placed in permanent housing. Eligibility for mainstream benefits will be determined at enrollment and assistance will be provided in accessing benefits including SSI/SSDI, SNAP, VA Benefits, and Medicaid. Atlanta CABHI will provide funding to ensure needed services are available when not covered by benefits. Trauma Informed Care, an evidence based practice, will guide the planning and achievement of client-centered goals in the transition from homelessness to stable permanent housing. Atlanta CABHI will implement a Steering Committee which will oversee the goals and objectives of the project; increase coordination with other entities such as the HUD CoC, ESG recipients, the HUD Coordinated Entry system, other active SAMHSA homeless grantees, stakeholders involved in implementing local plans to end homelessness, and the Atlanta Housing Authority; and ensure the provision of direct treatment and recovery support services to the population of focus.

The Rockdale County Treatment Court Collaborative (RCTCC) will engage a process that affords City of Conyers and Rockdale County's criminal justice system the resources to en- gage a flexible and appropriate approach to divert eligible individuals from the criminal justice system to treatment and recovery support services. The goal of RCTCC is to coordinate with multiple criminal justice components and community treatment /recovery services to provide early identification and intervention behavioral health services for adult defendants of the Conyers/Rockdale criminal justice system. The strategies/objectives for this project are: (1) to screen defendants for behavioral health disorders upon initial contact with the court system to identify behavioral health needs; (2) to directly connect clients with appropriate treatment recovery support services in their community; (3) to ensure defendant abstinence from alcohol and illegal drugs during their period of recovery.

"Intersections: A Trauma-Informed Continuum of Services for Commercially Sexually
Exploited Youth in Georgia" will deliver trauma-focused treatment to Commercially Sexually
Exploited Children (CSEC) and train professionals in systems that intersect with CSEC at high rates. Since 2012, The Project Team of the proposed project has utilized NCTSN funding to increase CSEC access to services through the development of CSEC applications of Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and intensive training of 65 providers (PITN).

The primary aims of the current proposal are to continue to improve treatment access and utilization by strengthening the network of providers and eliminating the gaps in these 3 systems. Goals are: (1) Sustain and strengthen PITN provision of treatment to CSEC; (2) Improve JJ workforce knowledge and awareness of traumatic stress, trauma-informed care, and trauma focused treatment (3): Improve FC knowledge of traumatic stress, trauma-informed care and trauma-focused treatment to achieve safe, supportive, and sustained placements for CSEC; (4): Improve trauma-informed care and trauma-focused treatment access in community agencies serving H/R, and LGBTQ youth. To accomplish these goals, 3 cohorts of providers will be trained in TF-CBT and Advanced TF-CBT for CSEC, and NCTSN Trauma training will be implemented: "Think Trauma" in Juvenile Justice, "Resource Parent Curriculum" in Foster Care, and "Psychological First Aid for Youth Experiencing Homelessness" for H/R and LGBTQ-serving agencies.

Measurable objectives include client level program evaluation for youth served by PITN therapists with TF-CBT; and training, referral, and implementation outcomes for the training in child serving systems. In all, 250 CSEC (50 per year) will receive TF-CBT treatment. The proposed project will also create more trauma informed child-serving systems and more therapists providing trauma-focused treatment for youth in Georgia.

The Home for Recovery project proposes to increase capacity in Georgia to provide accessible, effective, comprehensive, coordinated/integrated, and evidence- based recovery support services, and peer supports and peer navigator services and other critical services to persons who are experiencing chronic homelessness with a substance use disorder (SUD), severe mental illness (SMI), and/or co-occurring disorder (COD) and who are in Shelter Plus Care or in other permanent housing slots. All individuals will be screened to ensure they meet the qualifications for HUD Shelter Plus Care or other permanent supportive housing and receive a comprehensive intake assessment. In addition to CORE clinical behavioral health services, project providers will determine client eligibility for benefits assistance and link to benefit programs for which they are eligible. They will receive recovery-oriented services including peer specialist services. Home for Recovery proposes to use the Trauma Recovery and Empowerment Model (TREM) (women) and M- TREM (males) group intervention as its evidence-based practice. This project will increase the delivery of behavioral health, housing support, peer, and other recovery-oriented services not covered under Georgia's Medicaid plan for individuals with a SUD, SMI, and/or COD and who are chronically homeless, with a preference given to veterans. Project services should be provided a minimum of six months, but to support recovery, length of services can last longer than six months, based on the needs of each participant. Over the three year project period, Home for Recovery will: 1) provide screening, assessment, treatment, and recovery support services for 330 adults age 18 and older that are in Shelter Plus Care or other permanent housing slots and have a SUD, SMI, and/or COD; and 2) assess 100% of participants to determine eligibility for Medicaid and other entitlement program and link them to benefit programs for which they are eligible.

Through training, outreach, and implementation of evidence-based practices, the Suicide Safer Communities for Youth project will build infrastructure and increase the suicide specific continuum of care that will result in reductions in the number and rates of suicide deaths and number and rate of non-fatal suicide attempts among youth ages 10-24 in three targeted counties with suicide death rates higher than the national average. A Zero Suicide in Healthcare licensed clinical supervisor will be hired in each county to oversee development and integration of the community and clinical suicide prevention efforts. A Zero Suicide in Healthcare certified peer specialist (ZSH-CPS) in Bartow, Newton, and Oconee counties will integrate the voice of lived experience into ongoing suicide prevention efforts. Proposed evidence-based practices will include Question, Persuade, Refer Gatekeeper Training; Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths-Mental Health; The Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment; Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale; Suicide Safety Plan; Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicide; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Suicide Prevention; and DiDi Hirsch Youth Suicide Attempters Group. The Georgia College and University Suicide Prevention Coalition will provide 1) a yearly Suicide Prevention Conference for Colleges and Universities, 2) three additional suicide prevention training opportunities a year and 3) assessment, data collection, tracking and evaluation services for the College Coalition.

Crisis Counseling

Grizzlies Savings Lives! A GGC Campus Suicide Prevention Initiative is designed to promote mental health wellness and help-seeking among Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) students through multi-tiered outreach and partnership efforts. The strategies will include: (1) conducting the Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Gatekeeper training; (2) showing the "Truth about Suicide video"; and (3) promoting the use of e-technology for mental health screening and resources. With additional funds from SAMHSA, the College will be able to fill the gaps in and enhance its suicide prevention efforts. Through this project, we plan to deliver training and program activities that are culturally sensitive to our diverse student population and the culture of the project's target populations. The goals and objectives of the strategies are as follows: 1) Provide gatekeeper training to increase knowledge about signs of suicide, train participants to ask about suicide, and increase participants comfort in making a referral; 2) Conduct outreach efforts for students to reduce stigma associated with mental health concerns and help create a culture of help-seeking; and 3) Utilize E-technology and an online screening tool to help increase students' self-awareness of mood and have quick access to relaxation techniques and counseling resources through Relief Link and CollegeResponse.

Georgia Parent Support Network, Inc. (GPSN), Georgia's Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health has established and supports a network of 20 Federation chapters and three Youth M.O.V.E. chapters with a goal of expanding to cover the entire state. Working with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health (DBHDD), the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network (GMHCN), and the existing chapters and other partners, GPSN's goal is for families and youth to have access to family and youth support in their local regions, communities, and hometowns. The strategy for the next three years is for the state and local chapters to continue to partner with a number of currently existing federal, state, and local programs in order to expand local partnerships and build on the momentum of currently existing initiatives

Population(s) to be Served: Students K-12 in three targeted local education agencies (LEA) and their communities. Griffin-Spalding serves approximately 11,000 children and youth; Muscogee County School serves 32,000, and Newton County Schools serves 19,000. Strategies/Interventions: "Now is the Time" Georgia Project AWARE (GPA), which will be led by the Georgia Departments of Education (GaDOE) with support from the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) and the Georgia Interagency Directors' Team (GPA's Statement Management Team), will be implemented in three local education agencies (LEAs) and their respective communities: Griffin-Spalding Schools, Muscogee County Schools, and Newton County Schools. Each LEA will implement School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and develop a framework to identify students experiencing or at risk for emotional and behavioral problems and to provide a continuum of interventions to address their needs. The project will assist each LEA and local mental health providers in blending education and mental health systems and resources to provide a seamless framework of prevention and intervention within a multi-tiered framework. Based on needs assessment/environmental scan findings, each LEA will implement additional evidence-based strategies and interventions which may include Check In Check Out, Second Step Violence Prevention Program, and Targeted Social Skills Groups. Project work will be guided by GaDOE's PBIS implementation model which includes is a framework of systematic strategies to promote positive student behavior through data based decision making, providing an outstanding framework from which to enhance mental health promotion and intervention.