[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]



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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.

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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 ``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