Newswise — The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced that it is awarding up to nearly $8.9 million, for 5 years, to fund National Technical Assistance Centers on Consumer/Peer-Run Programs that will strengthen and enhance consumer directed approaches, recovery concepts and empowerment for adults with serious mental illness. The National Consumer and Consumer Supporter Technical Assistance Centers (TAC) program is one of SAMHSA’s infrastructure grant programs that support an array of activities to help build a solid foundation for delivering and sustaining effective mental health services. A consumer TAC is an organization controlled and managed by consumers (individuals with severe mental illness), while consumer supporter TACs are organizations controlled and managed by consumer supporters (individuals involved with the support of a consumer, such as parents, siblings, spouses and friends) who provide such support in a nonprofessional capacity. Three of the grants will be awarded to consumer technical assistance centers and two will be awarded to consumer-supporter technical assistance centers. These programs will maximize consumer self-determination and recovery and lower dependency on expensive social services and psychiatric hospitalization. It is expected that five grants will be awarded lasting up to five years. These grants are part of SAMHSA’s strategic initiative to help prevent and treat mental illnesses. There will be an additional $127,000 competitively awarded each year to one of the three successful consumer TACs to facilitate the annual Alternatives Conference run by and for mental health consumers. The purpose of these conferences is to provide a forum for consumers from all over the Nation to meet, to exchange information and ideas, and to provide and receive technical assistance on peer-operated services along with other relevant topics on best practices in mental health and support services. The grantees and their first year grant amounts are:
| Grantees | First Year Awards |
|---|---|
| National Alliance on Mental Illness, Arlington, Va. (consumer-supporter technical assistance center) | $330,000 |
| National Empowerment Center, Inc., Lawrence, Mass. (consumer technical assistance center) | $330,000 |
| Mental Health Association of Oregon, Portland, Ore. (consumer technical assistance center) | $329,690 |
| The Family Café, Inc. of Tallahassee, Fla. (consumer supporter technical assistance center)) | $329,995 |
| Mental Health Association of Southeast Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. (consumer technical assistance center) | $330,000 |
SAMHSA is a public health agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. Its mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities.
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