LA Discretionary Funding Fiscal Year 2014

As a systems improvement grant with a public health approach, Project LAUNCH presents a key opportunity at a critical time in Louisiana to help ensure that these systems are coordinated and aligned, and they are effective at the community level in supporting resilience and healthy development for young children and their families. Louisiana-LAUNCH will build upon existing innovative partnerships between the states health, welfare, and education agencies along with universities and community partners. The Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) Offices of Public Health (OPH) and Behavioral Health (OBH) propose to advance a coordinated young child wellness system in the state overall, with a focus on the south central region of Louisiana Lafayette and the surrounding parishes. According to the Louisiana State University/Tulane Early Childhood Policy Data Centers report Early Childhood Risk in Louisiana, there are parishes that demonstrate high or moderate high risk for poor developmental or wellbeing outcomes based on indicators such infant mortality, percent of births to single mothers, teen birth rate, births to non-high school graduates, children living in poverty and children scoring in need of intensive intervention at kindergarten entry.

Project Fleur-de-lis will expand its trauma-informed services to schools serving military youth and families in the Greater New Orleans area, home to the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans and Naval Support Activity, New Orleans. The program will provide the following interventions to youth in schools: (1) Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS; DeRosa et al., 2006), (2) Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS; Jaycox, 2004), and (3) Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT; Cohen, Mannarino, & Deblinger, 2006). The program will serve 4,795 individuals in year one; 4,811 individuals in year two; 4,829 individuals in year three; and 4,850 individuals in year four; with a total of 19, 285 over the proposed 4 year project.

The purpose of the Tulane University Mental Health Initiative is to achieve a comprehensive expansion of its existing programs regarding the awareness and prevention of suicide and attempted suicide, and to enhance referral services for at-risk students with mental, substance use, or behavioral disorders. Tulane has good points of entry for suicide prevention through student organizations, clubs, athletics, Greek organizations, and service learning. With an award from the SAMHSA Campus Suicide Prevention Grant program, we will build a stronger infrastructure of protective factors to dissuade students from considering suicide. Specifically, the Tulane University Mental Health Initiative will significantly enhance resources on campus to reduce stigma related to mental illness, provide early intervention services to students in distress or at-risk of suicide or other mental health issues, and reduce the incidence of completed suicide and suicide attempts The project goals will be accomplished through increased gatekeeper training for members of the university community, a social marketing campaign, the implementation of a task force to coordinate mental health programming, and the development of educational programs for students, faculty, staff, families, and friends. The achievement of these goals will lead to an improved and more efficient delivery system for mental health resources and information. By increasing the overall awareness related to our campus mental health care and realigning all the various programs and services, Tulane University anticipates an outcome of increased early intervention for students at risk. The ultimate goal of Tulane's Mental Health Initiative is the elimination of suicide and suicide attempts on the university campus.

The coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: (1) Modify alcohol policies to limit access to youth. (2) Change consequences to vendors selling alcohol to underage youth. (3) Modify policies to limit access to synthetic marijuana. (4) Implement media advocacy (Tackling Drugs Saving Lives) to increase community concern about underage drinking, marijuana use and prescription drug use.

The grantee will assist the Mentee coalition by helping the St. Bernard Community Coalition to organize effectively to address neighborhood specific youth substance use issues in St. Bernard Parish; increase their capacity to effectively address neighborhood-specific youth substance use issues; assist in targeting specific neighborhoods by strategic planning; and assist in developing a comprehensive plan to prevent neighborhood-specific youth substance use issues.

The coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: Employ a Project Director and Project Coordinator to oversee coalition activities; increase the coalition membership through community outreach efforts; coordinate with local enforcement for targeted compliance checks and OWI; amend current ordinances to reduce availability of alcohol to minors; and establish local ordinance to limit the availability of illegally used prescription drugs.

Louisiana's SPF PFS project has five goals that reflect the national goals for PFS:
(1) Prevent the onset and reduce the progression of underage drinking, prescription drug misuse/abuse, and depression; (2) Reduce short- and long-term consequences of underage drinking, prescription drug misuse/abuse, and depression; (3) Eliminate disparities in underage drinking, prescription drug misuse/abuse, and depression; (4) Strengthen and sustain prevention capacity/infrastructure at the state and community levels; and (5) Leverage, redirect and align state-wide funding streams and resources for prevention.

The Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse for Greater New Orleans (CADA) will implement the Offender Reentry Program (ORP) in Orleans Parish that combines psychoeducational support groups and transition planning in the correctional institution with effective community-based treatment, recovery, and reentry-related services. CADA will collaborate with Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) and provide services to incarcerated prisoners that will complement and enhance the prison's existing reentry curriculum; and will expand substance abuse treatment and related health services available for ex-offenders in the community. The ORP will transition offenders into intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment with individualized case management. Offenders will receive comprehensive assessments and transition planning while still in custody, and case management and linkages to wraparound support services immediately upon release. Comprehensive case management services will be administered by CADA to adult male offenders in need of treatment during the project period. Services to be provided by CADA, either directly or through community linkages, include: assessments, transition planning, support groups, substance abuse treatment (outpatient or residential as needed), drug testing, testing for HIV/AIDS and viral Hepatitis B & C; and referrals to job skills training and housing services. CADA, OPP, and its project partners will work together to give adult offenders/ex-offenders with substance use and/or co-occurring mental disorders the opportunity to improve their lives. If the client engages in and completes the ORP, it is anticipated that the client will have the following outcomes: 1) is drug/alcohol free for at least a year; 2) has diminished involvement in the criminal justice system and remains out of custody for at least a year; 3) has improved physical and/or mental well-being; and 4) has improved job and life skills, and has or is working towards securing employment.

The Louisiana State Adolescent Treatment Enhancement and Dissemination Program (LA-SAT-ED) will serve adolescents ages 12-18 with substance abuse or co-occurring disorders and their families. During this time, a programmatic blueprint will be developed for policies and procedures and financing structures which can be used to widen the use of evidence-based substance abuse practices in Louisiana. During year one, LA-SAT-ED will develop two learning laboratories with collaborating local community-based treatment providers. The project will be expanded to five additional sites in years two and three. As a result, LA-SAT-ED expects to see: 1) decreased juvenile justice involvement for adolescents; 2) increased rates of abstinence; 3) increased enrollment in education, vocational training, and/or employment; 4) increased positive social linkages; and 5) increased access, service use, and outcomes among adolescents most vulnerable to health disparities. The project goals include the provision of evidence-based assessment, treatment and recovery services to a minimum of 360 adolescents and their families by the end of year three. Participants of the program will receive evidence-based treatments that include Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) augmented by Assertive Continuing Care (ACC) and evidence-based assessment using the Global Assessment of Individual Needs (GAIN). Data collection will occur through the Access to Recovery (ATR) electronic health record that was created exclusively for the reporting of National Outcome Measures (NOMs) through GPRA survey collection. Data will be analyzed by a professional grant evaluator to ensure that both process and outcome objectives have been met.

The Louisiana Chronic Homelessness Assistance and Treatment Services (La CHATS) project will provide substance use treatment and/or co-occurring disorder treatment, case management, peer support services, and other supportive services to persons experiencing chronic homelessness in three (3) areas of the state with the largest concentration of chronically homeless. The 3 areas are: Greater New Orleans, Greater Baton Rouge, and NW Louisiana/Shreveport. The ultimate goal of the program is to reduce chronic homelessness by increasing access to permanent housing, engagement and retention in treatment for substance use or co-occurring disorders, and access to supportive services to maintain permanent housing, and access to mainstream resources. Over the 3-year grant period, 312 persons will be served. Of the 312 participants, all 312 will be assisted with enrollment for 3rd party networks and mainstream benefits to maintain permanent housing. During the first year of the grant, the program will assist a minimum of 9 provider organizations with enrolling participants in 3rd party networks. In the 2nd year, it will assist an additional 3 provider organizations with enrolling participants in 3rd party networks. In 3 years the project will assist 12 provider organizations with enrollment in 3rd party networks. Through the utilization of evidence-based practices, peer support services, case management, and other supportive services, it is expected that the project will reduce chronic homelessness by assistance with permanent housing placement, enrollment in mainstream resources, treatment services, and supportive services necessary permanent housing stability. The supplement project will expand the services available with the current project to provide treatment and supportive services to homeless veterans with substance use disorders and/or mental illness, as well as chronically homeless individuals with serious mental illness or co-occurring disorders.