[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 39 (Tuesday, February 28, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 10867]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4845]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Grant to the Farm Resource Center
AGENCY: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), HHS.
ACTION: Planned single-source award to support mental health outreach
to coal miners, farmers, and their families.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice is to provide information to the public concerning
a planned single-source award by the CMHS/SAMHSA to the Farm Resource
Center (FRC) of Cairo, Illinois, to fund the ``MH Outreach to Coal
Miners, Farmers, and Families'' project. Upon receipt of a satisfactory
grant application that is recommended for approval by an Initial Review
Group and the CMHS National Advisory Council, approximately $600,000 in
Federal funds will be made available to the FRC to carry out a 1-year
project.
This is not a formal request for applications. Grant funds will be
provided only to the FRC.
Authority/Justification: This grant will be made under the
authority of Section 520A of the Public Health Service Act (42 USC
290bb-32).
An award is being made on a single-source basis in response to
House and Senate Appropriation Subcommittees language contained in H.R.
Report 103-553 and S. Report 103-318 instructing the agency to provide
funding for two pilot projects to provide outreach counseling services
to families of coal miners. A grant is the appropriate mechanism to
fund this activity since support will be provided for a public purpose
and agency involvement in the actual conduct of the activity is not
required.
The FRC has provided mental health and substance abuse outreach
services in rural Illinois since 1986. FRC has provided counseling to
farmers, coal miners and their families, established a statewide
hotline, and utilized outreach counselors to work with rural families
in their homes to address problems such as depression, financial
stress, alcoholism, and domestic violence.
The FRC is uniquely qualified to carry out the aims of this project
in that it has the distinction of being the only organization with
extensive experience in linking coal miners, farmers, and their
families with mental health services. Further, because of their years
of experience and organizational readiness, the project can be
implemented with a minimal start-up time. The FRC has in place
mechanisms to recruit, train, and dispatch volunteers to provide
outreach and counseling to the target population. Moreover, FRC's
trained staff have a long history of working closely with State or
regional associations of the United Mine Workers of America,
Association of Public Health Administrators, the Easter Seal Society,
and the Association of Community Mental Health Agencies.
Background: A significant portion of the adult population in the
United States reports experiencing personal or emotional problems in
the course of a year. Half of these people say they are unable to solve
their problems, and approximately one-third report they are unable to
do anything to make their problems more bearable. Yet relatively few
seek help. Thus, outreach services are important to engage more persons
into appropriate services. Outreach, when carried out aggressively, can
engage and empower coal miners, farmers, and their families by giving
them access to needed mental health services.
The effects of economic stress are pervasive in rural areas, and
coal miners, farmers, and their families have been particularly hard
hit. Unemployment and underemployment have resulted in a high incidence
of problems including alcohol/drug abuse, family violence, depression,
suicides, and other stress-related symptoms.
This grant is intended to address the mental health needs of a wide
range of rural population groups including the poor, the elderly, the
disabled, women (particularly those of child bearing age), and minority
populations in Illinois and West Virginia. It will enhance effective
service utilization in five areas by:
(1) Expanding the mental health service capacity in communities to
serve persons in the target population;
(2) Increasing access to existing mental health and related support
services;
(3) Increasing utilization of existing mental health and related
support services;
(4) Developing effective public education efforts to address mental
health and substance abuse issues; and
(5) Providing family-centered outreach in the cultural context that
is most appropriate for the client and family involved.
The proposed project will serve as a national demonstration site on
the development and implementation of outreach to rural families who
are experiencing mental illnesses or are at-risk of developing mental
illnesses.
Dated: February 21, 1995.
Richard Kopanda,
Acting Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 95-4845 Filed 2-27-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P
