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1993.12.14 : Trujillo Nominated as Director, IHS

Contact: Press Office
Tuesday, Dec. 14, 1993                          (202) 690-6343

The nomination of Michael H. Trujillo, M.D., M.P.H., of Gresham,
Ore., to be director of the Indian Health Service, has gone to
Capitol Hill and will be taken up by the Senate Select Committee
on Indian Affairs after Jan. 25 when the Senate returns from
recess.

President Clinton's selection of the 49-year-old Trujillo, a
member of the Laguna Pueblo Tribe of New Mexico, was highly
praised this summer by HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala and
Assistant Secretary for Health Philip R. Lee, head of the Public
Health Service.

Dr. Trujillo served most recently as area chief medical officer
for the IHS' Portland, Ore., Area.  He has dedicated his career to
strengthening the health care delivery system for Native Americans
and elevating the status of Indian communities nationwide.

Trujillo received his bachelor of science degree in biology
(1966), bachelor of arts in history (1967) and his master's in
molecular biology (1970), from the University of New Mexico,
Albuquerque.

He earned his M.D. from the School of Medicine, University of New
Mexico, in 1974, and his M.P.H. from the School of Public Health,
University of Minnesota, 1984.

Contact:  PHS/SAMHSA
Wednesday, Dec. 15, 1993                     Teddi Pensinger
                                             (301) 443-2792

HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced $16.8 million in
demonstration grants to organize comprehensive service networks
for homeless persons with severe mental illnesses, including those
who also have substance use disorders -- and test the impact of
the services on homelessness.

The demonstration projects are funded through the Access to
Community Care and Effective Services and Supports (ACCESS)
program.  They will make more available a range of services needed
by homeless persons, including primary health and mental health
services, treatment for substance use disorders, income supports
and housing.

"The tragedy of homelessness is entirely too pervasive in this
country.  ACCESS has enormous potential both to provide care and
to generate knowledge," said Secretary Shalala.

Two communities in each of the nine states participating in ACCESS
will be compared to test the impact of available, high quality and
comprehensive integrated mental health and support services on
improved well-being for homeless persons.  The states and
localities receiving funds are Bridgeport and New Haven, Conn.;
two sites in Chicago, Ill.; Sedgwick and Shawnee counties in
Kansas; St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo.; Charlotte and Raleigh,
N.C.; two sites in Philadelphia, Pa.; Austin and Fort Worth,
Texas; Richmond and Hampton/Newport News, Va.; and two sites in
Seattle, Wash.

Philip R. Lee, M.D., assistant secretary for health and head of
the U.S. Public Health Service, said, "ACCESS projects will serve
as models of how to promote growth and autonomy, rather than
dependency." 

In each state, one community will act as a services integration
site.  The state will receive funds to provide outreach and case
management services and to integrate the full complement of
services a homeless person with a mental illness needs.  The other
community will serve as the comparison site, and will receive
funds to do outreach and provide case management within its
existing services structure.

The ACCESS grants were recommended by the Federal Task Force on
Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness, whose members represented
16 federal departments involved in efforts to improve the lives of
homeless persons with severe mental illnesses.  The ACCESS program
represents the work of HHS and the Departments of Housing and
Urban Development, Labor, Education, Agriculture and Veterans
Affairs.

"In this series of projects, our aim is to encourage coordination
among everyone providing services to homeless persons-federal,
state and local governments and voluntary organizations--to
eliminate the fragmentation that currently exists in the care-
providing infrastructure," said Elaine M. Johnson, Ph.D., acting
administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration.

The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), which will
administer the awards, is a component of Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration, one of the eight U.S.
Public Health Service agencies in HHS.  Bernard S. Arons, M.D., is
director of CMHS.

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS: A brief description of the programs
awarded funding under the new ACCESS program by the Center for
Mental Health Services is available.