SAMHSA Awards More Than $15 Million for 17 Family-Centered Substance Abuse Treatment Grants for Adolescents and their Families

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Date: 10/2/2007
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Telephone: 240-276-2130

SAMHSA Awards More Than $15 Million for 17 Family-Centered Substance Abuse Treatment Grants for Adolescents and their Families

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced that it is awarding 17 grants totaling more than $15 million over the next three years to community-based organizations that will provide treatment services to adolescents with substance abuse problems. Grantees receiving these awards will utilize known, effective strategies that include families as an integral part of the treatment process.

“Families are an integral part of the treatment process and their inclusion increases the likelihood of successful treatment outcomes and recovery,” said SAMHSA Administrator Terry L. Cline, Ph.D. “Data from our most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows the need is great, with 2.1 million youths, ages 12-17, who would benefit from treatment for an alcohol or illicit drug use problem. Of this group, only 181,000 youths actually got care at a specialty facility. With effective community-based care and recovery support services, these young people are far more likely to experience success in school and far less likely to become tangled in the justice system.”

Two treatment strategies being used by grantees are the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (ACRA) and Assertive Continuing Care (ACC). The former is a 12-session, manual-guided treatment that uses individualized, flexible behavioral approaches focusing on the development of coping skills for both the youth and the primary caregivers. The ACC model provides continuing care for adolescents who have received treatment using the ACRA protocol. ACC case managers are assertive in their efforts to engage both youth and their families, and deliver care primarily through home visits.

Each recipient will receive up to $300,000 per year for up to three years. First-year funding totals $5.1 million. Continuation of these awards is subject to both availability of funds and progress achieved by awardees. Grants were awarded to:

Arizona
Native American Community Health Center, Inc., Phoenix--$299,996 per year to create a comprehensive Youth Substance Abuse Treatment Program in collaboration with the Phoenix Union High School District that services 13 schools. The project will implement ACRA as the model for primary treatment and ACC for their aftercare services.

California
Asian Community Mental Health Services, Oakland-- $300,000 per year to support the Asian Youth Community Reinforcement for Asian American youths ages 12 to18 living in Alameda County. ACRA, along with ACC, will be delivered to youth and their family members. The support will allow the awardee to increase utilization of services by Asian youth by addressing cultural characteristics, such as language, norms, and values that are unique or more prevalent in Asian immigrant communities.

Special Service for Groups, Inc., Los Angeles--$300,000 per year to support the Special Services for Groups/Homeless Outreach Program’s Supporting Opportunities for Adolescent Recovery (SOAR). This project will provide evidence-based, family-centered substance abuse treatment. It will reach underserved populations, including minority, low-income, substance-abusing youth ages 12-20, particularly those in South Los Angeles.

Walden House, Inc., San Francisco--$300,000 per year to Walden House’s Webs of Support to utilize ACRA and ACC as strategies to bridge and integrate youth with substance use disorders back into the family and community after residential treatment. The process begins at the point of entry into treatment and requires coordinated, collaborative community-based resources. The project’s target population consists of vulnerable youth and their families, specifically youths ages 12-17 who have substance use disorders, are residents of San Francisco County and are enrolled in Walden House’s 90-day Residential Evaluation and Assessment Program, and their parent/caregivers.

WestCare California, Inc., Fresno--$300,000 per year to develop a family-centered outpatient treatment program that will provide home-based treatment and continuing care services to adolescents and their caregivers. The program employs a research-based approach to treating adolescents, expands treatment capacity in an underserved area, and provides treatment choice. Services will focus on interaction between the youth and others in their environments, including family and those in school, work, probation or other areas. Weekly sessions are provided in the home or location chosen by the client on days and hours convenient to the client. Parent caregiver participation is required. Assertive case management in continuing care will include advocacy, linkage with community resources, transportation, job-finding assistance, recreation and social activity assistance, home visits, and reinforcement of the treatment approach.

Colorado
Arapahoe House, Inc., Thornton--$299,996 per year to increase community capacity in the metropolitan Denver area to provide family-focused, evidence-based treatment by implementing and evaluating a continuing care intervention entitled Assertive Continuing Care for Adolescents. The program is for youths ages 12 to 18 who have co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders, and their families. The ACRA and ACC models will be used in the program.

University of Colorado, Denver & HSC--$295,244 per year to enhance substance abuse treatment by providing 12 to 14 weeks of continuing care using the ACRA/ACC model for adolescents exiting the Synergy Assertive Continuing Care’s residential and day treatment programs, and the Denver Family Crisis Center’s Residential Treatment Center. This evidence-based model has been effective in minimizing relapse and enhancing the youths’ reintegration with family and community. The project will target adolescents from the entire five-county Denver metropolitan area. Synergy is also partnering in this project with Mile High Youth Corps, a program specializing in the development of youths’ pro-social activities and skills as a mechanism for avoiding relapse.

Massachusetts
Latino Health Institute, Inc., Boston--$300,000 per year to expand substance abuse treatment services offered by the Latin American Health Institute, including to Hispanic adolescents with substance use disorders, and their families, who reside in the city of Boston. The program will target adolescents and their adult caregivers by implementing the ACRA/ACC evidence-based model for intervention.

Missouri
Phoenix Programs, Inc., Columbia--$299,890 per year to the Assertive Family-Centered Treatment project, which will implement the family-centered ACRA, coupled with ACC, for underserved rural adolescents who have substance abuse disorders or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders, and their caregivers. The goals of this project are to increase access to treatment and reduce substance abuse and co-occurring mental illness by expanding and strengthening Phoenix Programs of care.

Nevada
Reno-Sparks Indian Colony--$300,000 per year to provide a comprehensive treatment program for adolescents and their families living in northern Nevada. Services will include intervention and direct outpatient counseling and therapy services, as well as referral to residential treatment programs. The tribe operates the Reno-Sparks Tribal Health Clinic, which provides focused and culturally competent services to underserved American Indian/Alaska Native adolescents.

New Hampshire
Child & Family Services of New Hampshire, Manchester--$299,755 per year to provide New Hampshire adolescents in Merrimack, Hillsborough and western Rockingham counties with quick, easy access to community-based substance abuse treatment that is cost-effective, family-centered, and has a record of effectiveness.

New York
Center for Community Alternatives, Syracuse--$300,000 to serve as the lead agency in a community consortium that will implement a family-centered substance abuse treatment program for adolescents using the GAIN assessment tool and ACRA. The program will reduce drug use and promote pro-social behavior among a group of high-risk adolescents. In addition to the Syracuse City School District, the Center’s partners include Crouse Irving Memorial Hospital Chemical Dependency Treatment Services, a New York State-licensed substance abuse treatment agency, and the Syracuse Model Neighborhood Facility. The target population is youth between the ages of 15 and 18 who are enrolled in one of the Syracuse City School District’s alternative schools.

Ohio
Alcohol Drug and Mental Health Board,Columbus--$294,032 to provide evidence-based treatment to the youth of Franklin County to help them and their families recover from alcohol and other drug abuse and limit custody relinquishment solely for the purpose of accessing behavioral healthcare services.

Tennessee
Meharry Medical College, Nashville--$300,000 to fund a substance abuse treatment program of the Lloyd C. Elam Center of Meharry Medical College that will serve adolescents who have substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health disorders by embedding the ACRA and ACC model program into the current adolescent day treatment program. Adolescents’ families and/or primary caregivers will also be served.

Ridgeview Psychiatric Hospital & Center, Inc., Oak Ridge--$300,000 to Ridgeview’s Outpatient Alcohol and Drug (ROAD) Treatment Program, which will implement ACRA/ACC models for adolescents and their families in the rural East Tennessee counties of Anderson, Morgan, and Campbell. The ROAD project will provide a network consisting of juvenile courts, school systems, and the Department of Children Services.

Texas
Mental Health Mental Retardation of Tarrant County, Ft Worth--$300,000 for their Addiction Services, Mental Health and Research Divisions to collaborate with the Fort Worth Independent School District’s Comprehensive Truancy Court program to provide substance abuse screening, assessment and treatment to at-risk youth ages 13 to 18 in the Truancy Court. This project will provide a full-time staff person to screen for substance abuse among students.

Sam Houston State University, Huntsville--$297,959 for the University’s Family-Community Connections to implement ACRA. This project represents a partnership consisting of Sam Houston State University researchers, Phoenix House of Houston treatment providers, and youth supervised by the Montgomery County Juvenile Probation Department.

For more information, visit http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/child/childhealth.asp.

SAMHSA is a public health agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is responsible for improving the accountability, capacity and effectiveness of the nation's substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment, and mental health services delivery system.

Page Last Updated: 10/3/2007