Prevention Initiatives and Priority Programs Development

Refugee Mental Health Program (RMHP)

Special Programs Development Branch Division of Prevention, Traumatic Stress, and Special Programs Center for Mental Health Services

The Refugee Mental Health Program (RMHP) originated in the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA,) in 1980, in response to the arrival of nearly 125,000 Cubans on the South Florida shores. The basic mission of the RMHP was to provide mental health assessment, treatment, and consultation to Cuban and Haitian migrants, and their providers. In 1992, in conjunction with the reorganization of ADAMHA, the activities of the RMHP were transferred to the Refugee Mental Health Branch, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). At that time, consultative activities were expanded to other federal agencies - most notably, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), DHHS. In 1995, the original Cuban/Haitian activities of the RMHP were transferred to the Department of Justice. Concurrently, the consultative activities of the RMHP were transferred to the Special Programs Development Branch, CMHS, SAMHSA.

Since 1995, the CMHS - RMHP, through an intra-agency agreement with the ORR, provides mental health consultation and technical assistance to federal, state, local agencies, and ORR-funded programs. These activities include on-site and telephone consultation, community assessments, development and dissemination of technical assistance documents, and development and provision of workshops and training programs for resettlement staff and mental health personnel. RMHP staff may also be given special missions. For example, RHMP staff were involved in the planning for Operation Provide Refuge in 1999, and served on the ORR Director's staff overseeing all mental health planning and services for Kosovar Albanians processed at Fort Dix, N.J. Later, RMHP staff participated in a Presidential Delegation to Kosovo. The delegation completed a comprehensive psycho-social needs assessment of returning refugees.

Contact:

Captain John J. Tuskan, Jr. — (301) 443-1761
jtuskan@samhsa.gov

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Center for Mental Health Services
Refugee Mental Health Program
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 15-105
Rockville, MD 20857

3/2004