[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 115 (Monday, June 16, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 32648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-15754]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Grant to the Farm Resource Center, Inc.
AGENCY: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), DHHS.
ACTION: Planned single-source award to support mental health outreach
to coal miners, farmers, and their families.
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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 ``Mental Health Outreach
to Coal Miners, Farmers, and their Families'' project. Upon receipt of
a satisfactory application that is recommended for approval by an
Initial Review Group and the CMHS National Advisory Council, up to
$300,000 in Federal funds may be awarded to the FRC for each of the 2
years of this program.
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).
Eligibility for this grant award is limited to the Farm Resource
Center (FRC) of Cairo, Illinois. 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, alcoholism and domestic violence.
FRC is uniquely qualified to carry out the goals of this program in
that it has the distinction of being the only suitably located
organization with extensive experience in linking coal miners, farmers,
and their families with mental health and substance abuse services. As
part of their program, FRC has recruited, trained, and dispatched
volunteers to provide outreach and counseling services to the target
population. Further, because of this and their years of experience and
organizational readiness, the FRC can deliver services immediately to
those in need.
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. Therefore, 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.
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: June 10, 1997.
Richard Kopanda,
Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 97-15754 Filed 6-13-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P
