LA Discretionary Funding Fiscal Year 2017

The New Orleans Equity and Inclusion Initiative will provide Permanent Supportive Housing services, treatment and recovery support services, and assistance in obtaining Medicaid and other benefits for 120 individuals who are chronically homeless and 20 vulnerable homeless families with children, thereby ending their homelessness. The Initiative will play a vital role in addressing persistent inequality in New Orleans' recovery from Hurricane Katrina and in helping to achieve New Orleans' goals of becoming the first city to reach a "functional zero" in family homelessness by the end of 2016 (setting a standard of permanently housing all homeless families within an average of 30 days) and ending chronic homelessness by July 4, 2017. With 65 percent of New Orleans' chronic homeless population lacking any health insurance and a marked racial disparity in access to health insurance, the Initiative is critical to addressing disparity in access to care and ensuring that Louisiana's delayed Medicaid expansion, slated to begin in July 2016, is accessible to a highly vulnerable, difficult-to-reach population.

Imperial Calcasieu Human Services Authority (ImCal) proposes to implement ImHealthy, a person-centered integrated primary and behavioral health home, which will serve adults residing in Southwest Louisiana, who receive treatment for mental health and/or substance abuse disorders at the Lake Charles Behavioral Health Clinic (LCBHC) and are at risk for chronic health conditions. Caseload demographics include 44% males, 56% females and less than one percent transgender; 30% African American, less than 1% American Indian, less than 1% Asian, 68% White, non-Hispanic; 2.7% Hispanic; 2.7% LGBT; and 1% veterans. The objectives include: 1) serve as the person-centered primary and behavioral health home for 800 persons over the course of the 4-year grant (160 FY1, 240 FY2, 240 FY3 and 160 FY4); 2) provide fully integrated primary and behavioral health care services (Level 6) by the end of Year 4; 3) meet Meaningful Use Standards by the end of Year 4; 4) participate in the Million Hearts Initiative with a targeted focus on the ABCS; and 5) reduce/control the per capita cost to sustain the program indefinitely.

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 (PFDL), a service division of the Mercy Health Ministry created in
October 2005, provides evidence-based treatment to youth, military families, and communities in New Orleans who have been impacted by community violence and interpersonal conflict. PFDL will offer trauma-focused services to schools predominately in Orleans Parish, with a majority of students being African American, from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, and 4-18 years old. PFDL will serve 5,357 individuals in year 1; 5,893 individuals in year 2; 6,333 individuals in year 3; 6,763 individuals in year 4; and 7,236 individuals in year 5. Thus, PFDL will serve a total of 31,582 over the proposed 5 year proposed project.

PFDL proposes the following goals and objectives to address the needs of our population of focus: Goal 1: Expand our school-based child and family services. Objective 1: Increase trauma-focused individual and group intervention services by at least 10% per year over the 5 year proposed grant period. Goal 2: Strengthen military families by improving access to mental health services. Objective 2: Increase individual, group, and family interventions at progressive identified levels of need by at least10% per year over the 5 year proposed grant period. Goal 3: Establish a comprehensive suicide awareness and responsiveness program for youth, caregivers, and school personnel in middle and high schools. Objective 3: Provide information, technical assistance, training, and consultation to a minimum of 2 schools per year over the 5 year proposed grant period. Goal 4: Build capacity and implement restorative practices in school and community systems. Objective 4: Provide training, consultation, and implementation support to a minimum of two schools per year over the 5 year proposed grant period.

The purpose of NSU Cares is to create a prevention-prepared campus community in which suicide completion becomes a "never event" at Northwestern State University. The goals of the project focus on creating a sustainable infrastructure and safety net for students and a culture of caring, wellness, and hope. NSU Cares has four main goals: (1) Increase the connectedness of mental health services with other departments/agencies within the university setting and within the community in order to promote the message that suicide prevention is everyone's responsibility, (2) To provide gatekeeper training to a significant portion of the campus community in order to recognize, approach, and refer students who are in distress, (3) To provide online training, outreach and support to both online and face-to-face students, faculty/staff, and families of students through educational seminars designed to educate participants on suicide, as well as other mental/behavioral health issues, reduce stigma, and encourage help-seeking, and (4) Increase help-seeking behavior among students by creating a culture of caring, wellness, and hope.

The coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: engage coalition sector members in planning; implementation and evaluation of strategic planning in order to strengthen the capacity and sustainability of the coalition; provide leadership in reducing substance use among youth by implementing activities that will help coalition members work together on community initiatives; provide support to Youth Coalition that would increase opportunities for youth-serving organizations to partner, coordinate, and collaborate with each other and with WPCHS; develop and implement a comprehensive communications and outreach plan; provide leadership in reducing substance use/abuse among youth by implementing activities to help bring coalition members together to work on various community activities; develop a database to aid all sectors working with youth in planning and delivery of evidence-based and best practices used in substance use reduction among young adults; create barriers to reduce alcohol and marijuana use and promote events to influence system change; educate students in grades 6 through 12 about the risk/harm involved in alcohol and marijuana use; facilitate community-wide specific alcohol and marijuana use awareness education activities; ensure the application of consistent consequences for underage alcohol use, possession and social hosting; and ensure the application of consistent consequences for marijuana use.

The coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: Plan and implement strategies to prevent/reduce substance abuse and promote healthy living in the community, with a primary focus on youth 18 years of age and younger.

The Coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: engage sector members in planning, implementation, and evaluation of strategic planning; create barriers to reduce alcohol use; and promote events to influence system change and educate 6 through 12 graders and the community about the dangers of marijuana use.

The coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: Develop and implement a comprehensive and sustainable strategic plan using prevention, treatment and law enforcement to reduce the negative consequences of the use of illicit drugs and other drugs of abuse and abuse of alcohol in the community with a primary focus on youth.

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.