Advisory

SAMHSA TO PROVIDE $73,000 FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES TO RED LAKE BAND OF CHIPPEWA INDIANS

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Administrator Charles G. Curie today announced that SAMHSA will provide approximately $73,000 for an Emergency Response Grant for Immediate Services to continue to provide mental health and substance abuse services to the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians in Minnesota. The request for an immediate assistance grant came in response to a school shooting on March 21, which caused 10 fatalities and seven injuries, leading to widespread psychological consequences for those who live, go to school and work on the Red Lake reservation.

We are making these resources available to help meet the overwhelming human need for counseling, support and recovery in the aftermath of the Red Lake tragedy,” SAMHSA Administrator Curie said. The grant will be used to provide individual counseling and other intervention services to youth and adults at Red Lake and will be administered jointly by SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services and Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

Parents can help their children understand the tragedy and the feelings they might experience because of it; teachers can help their students do the same. Some may have reactions very soon after the event. Others may seem fine for weeks or months, and then begin to show worrisome behavior. For information about local mental health services or to obtain informational materials to help understand and talk about emotional effects of trauma, call SAMHSA’s clearinghouse at 1-800-789-2647.

Emergency Grants are noncompetitive grants or cooperative agreements to public entities to enable such entities to address emergency substance abuse and mental health needs in local communities.

This grant is part of the overall HHS response to the tragedy on the Red Lake Reservation.

SAMHSA, a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead federal agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment and mental health services in the United States.

This page was last updated on 09 May, 2005
SAMHSA is An Agency of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service