Blog: SAMHSA

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2014 Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment in Adult Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts and Juvenile Treatment Drug Courts. SAMHSA anticipates $4,550,000 in total funding.
The purpose of this program is to expand and/or enhance substance abuse treatment services in existing adult Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts (which are the tribal version of adult drug courts) and in Juvenile Treatment Drug Courts (tribal or non-tribal) which use the treatment drug court model in order to provide alcohol and drug treatment (including recovery support services supporting substance abuse treatment, screening, assessment, case management, and program coordination) to defendants/offenders.
Grantees will be expected to provide a coordinated, multi-system approach designed to combine the sanctioning power of treatment drug courts with effective treatment services to break the cycle of criminal behavior, alcohol and/or drug use, and incarceration or other penalties.
KEY INFO

• Anticipated Number of Awards: Up to 14
• Anticipated Award Amount: Up to $325,000 per year
• Length of Project: Up to 3 years
• Application Due Date: Monday, March 17, 2014

More information is available at SAMHSA.gov >>

Did you know that 30 million previously uninsured people are now eligible for coverage, including mental health and addiction treatment?
If you provide mental health and substance abuse services, you need strong business operations to meet this challenge and position your organization for growth. 
There is good news–and free training–for you! The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is funding online learning called BHBusiness: Mastering Essential Business Operations.
Apply by December 16, 2013, for online courses grow your organization, improve efficiency, and deliver value, focused on five core competencies:

• Strategic business planning
• Third-party billing and compliance
• Eligibility and enrollment
• Third-party contract negotiation
• Meaningful use of healthcare technology

The Application deadline is December 16, 2013. Note: There are a limited number of slots remaining; apply as soon as possible to ensure acceptance into the program.

For the 24th year, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is sponsoring National Recovery Month (Recovery Month). This long-standing observance spreads the message that prevention works, treatment is effective, and people recover from mental and/or substance use disorders. The observance also celebrates people in recovery and those who work in the behavioral health field.
This year’s Recovery Month theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Together on Pathways to Wellness,” emphasizes that there are many unique ways people can prevent behavioral health issues, seek treatment, and sustain recovery. The theme also highlights the importance of mental, physical, and emotional well-being, as well as the value of family, friends, and community members throughout the recovery journey.
SAMHSA created the toolkit to increase awareness of the power of recovery. The kit provides individuals and organizations with the resources they need to help people with mental and/or substance use disorders. It also assists in planning Recovery Month events and offers resources to distribute in communities and during local events.

For the 24th year, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is sponsoring National Recovery Month (Recovery Month). This long-standing observance spreads the message that prevention works, treatment is effective, and people recover from mental and/or substance use disorders. The observance also celebrates people in recovery and those who work in the behavioral health field.
This year’s Recovery Month theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Together on Pathways to Wellness,” emphasizes that there are many unique ways people can prevent behavioral health issues, seek treatment, and sustain recovery. The theme also highlights the importance of mental, physical, and emotional well-being, as well as the value of family, friends, and community members throughout the recovery journey.
SAMHSA created the toolkit to increase awareness of the power of recovery. The kit provides individuals and organizations with the resources they need to help people with mental and/or substance use disorders. It also assists in planning Recovery Month events and offers resources to distribute in communities and during local events.

Calling all researchers! The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is opening up access to its Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) and National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) confidential data for research purposes. 
From the call for applications:

Through receipt, review and approval of applications, researchers may access confidential DAWN and NSDUH data through CBHSQ's new Data Portal system. The Data Portal is a secure virtual computing environment. It is designed to provide authorized researchers access to confidential data for approved research projects. The goal of the Data Portal is to maximize the use of data collected by CBHSQ for important research and policy analyses, while conforming to Federal law and protecting identifiable data from disclosure.
Access to the Data Portal is provided through approved computer location(s) and IP address(es) at the researcher's organization. Users are required to maintain the confidentiality of the data used in the Data Portal. Information cannot be transferred into or out of the secure Data Portal by researchers until a disclosure review is conducted by CBHSQ. CBHSQ will conduct site inspections of each approved applicant.

SAMSHA recently published a presentation, “Change, Challenge, & Opportunity-Substance Abuse and Addiction in a Changing Health Care Environment,” detailing the changes in teen substance abuse and addiction over the past several years. The presentation, available free online in PowerPoint format (direct download link), offers thorough data and several charts examining these changes, both positive and negative.
Key takeaways include:
Improvements

• Overall alcohol use dropped from 28.8 to 26.3 percent between 2002 and 2010
• Binge drinking dropped from 19.3 to 17.0 percent between 2002 and 2010
• Heavy drinking dropped from 6.2 to 5.1 percent between 2002 and 2010
• Methamphetamine users dropped by about half between 2006 and 2010
• Cocaine users dropped from 2.4 million in 2006 to 1.5 million in 2010

This fall, SAMHSA plans to launch "Talk. They Hear You."—its third National Underage Drinking Campaign. With the help of a panel of experts to guide research, objectives, and strategies, SAMHSA has focused the campaign on engaging parents of youth ages 9 to 15 in prevention behaviors and motivating them to talk to their kids before there is a problem. The campaign aims to provide parents with practical advice, information, and tools to support their role as influencers on their child's decision not to drink.
Drinking alcohol under the age of 21 is illegal in the U.S., yet according to SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), in 2010, approximately 10 million youth ages 12 to 20 reported drinking alcohol in the past month. Underage drinking increases the risk of academic failure, illicit drug use, and tobacco use. And as a leading contributor to death from injuries for people under age 21, underage drinking continues to be a public health concern with serious consequences for youth, their families, and their communities.
In 2006, Congress passed the Sober Truth on Preventing (STOP) Underage Drinking Act that requires the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish and enhance the efforts of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking. It is through the STOP Underage Drinking Act that SAMHSA's Underage Drinking Prevention National Media Campaign is mandated.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), a government sponsored study conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), found that teens were more like to try new substances for the first time during June and July. The study surveyed teens between the ages of 12 and 17 who reported trying a new substance within the previous year.
The average daily rates for first-time alcohol use range from 5,000-8,000 and 3,000- 4,000 for first-time cigarette and marijuana use. On an average day in June and July, first time alcohol users alone can reach up to approximately 11,000. In addition, during those two summer months, an average of 4,500 young adults sample cigarettes for the first time and 5,000 teens begin using marijuana.
While there are several possible reasons as to why this jump in first-time substance users occurs in the summer, the most likely are that adolescents have a sudden increase in their free time as well as less adult supervision and responsibilities that are present during the school year.

Suicide is one of the nation’s greatest public health problems – but it is also completely preventable. If all of us work together in an effort to reach out and help those at risk we can prevent the needless devastation suicide brings to individuals, loved ones and communities across the nation.
In order to provide practical help in this effort the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has developed a new toolkit entitled Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for High Schools. The toolkit aims at reducing the risk of suicide among high school students by providing research-based guidelines and resources to assist school administrators, principals, mental health professionals, health educators, guidance counselors, nurses, student services coordinators, teachers and others identify teenagers at risk and take appropriate measures to provide help.
The tool kit offers information on screening tools, warning signs and risk factors of suicide, statistics, and parent education materials.