Grants Encourage States to Develop Substance-Abuse Prevention Projects

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has announced 16 Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) State Incentive Grants totaling $145 million over five years to enhance community-based substance abuse and mental health programs.

The grants, awarded to states and Indian tribes, are designed to help community programs reduce drug and alcohol abuse, lower crime related to substance abuse, increase employment and school enrollment, improve family and living conditions, and boost access to services. The money enables state-community partnerships to implement initiatives that in other settings have been effective in promoting youth development, reducing risk-taking behaviors, and preventing problem behaviors, according to the agency.

The total funding for 2006 is $29 million. The individual grants can go up to $2.1 million in the first year and are renewable for up to five years, subject to availability of funds and the progress achieved by awardees, according to SAMHSA.

A grant of $513,831 was awarded to the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa of Peshawbestown, Mich., to develop programs to prevent the onset and reduce the progression of substance abuse, including childhood and underage drinking. The state of utah was awarded $2.1 million to develop a statewide, integrated, data-driven, substance abuse prevention system.

Pennsylvania, another awardee, plans to use its $2.1 million grant to build an interagency substance abuse prevention coalition and a standardized reporting system based on the principles of a strategic prevention framework.

“Substance abuse prevention, just like the prevention of obesity or smoking, involves work by families and schools, faith organizations and health professionals, corrections officials and youth leaders,” Assistant Surgeon General Eric Broderick, D.D.S., M.P.H., acting deputy administrator of SAMHSA, said in the press release.

“Funding streams from multiple sources can come together to build a comprehensive approach to prevention that spans organizations and individuals at the local and state levels. The grants... help achieve both of those goals.”

Although the direct recipients of the SAMHSA's SPF incentive grants will be states and federally recognized tribes and tribal organizations, the agency foresees the grants' being implemented in partnerships with local communities.

Besides Pennsylvania and Utah, states receiving $2.1 million grants are Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. The Cherokee Nation of Tahlequah, Okla., also received a $2.1 million award.

Smaller amounts went to the Cook Inlet Tribe Council in Anchorage, Alaska ($1.63 million); Native-American Health Center in Oakland, Calif. ($1.45 million); American Samoa ($1.31 million); and the Great Lakes Intertribal Council in Lac du Flambeau, Wis. ($1.1 million).

Information about SAMHSA's SPF incentive grant program is posted at<www.samhsa.gov/Matrix/matrix_prevention.aspx>.▪