Saturday, March 22, 2025
3/22/2025
Project Abstract The Tucson Indian Center (TIC) proposes to implement an IHS Suicide Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention (SPIP) Program grant to prevent and address suicide and suicide prevention among Tucson American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN). TIC was founded in 1963 and is the only Urban Indian Organization in Southern Arizona. TIC offers social services, wellness services as an Urban Indian Health Program and will offer on-site primary care in the summer of 2022. AI/ANs account for 4.2% of Tucson’s population, or 41,312 of 537,726 residents. The majority of AI/AN who reside in Tucson are Tohono O’odham, Pascua Yaqui (Yoeme) and Navajo (Diné). Tucson’s AI/AN population is much younger than the Non-Hispanic White (NHW) population, and very few elders are with us to share their wisdom. AI/AN people are more than 3 times as likely to live in poverty compared to NHW people, and AI/AN children nearly four times as likely to live in poverty. This extreme poverty level is the result of low educational attainment and high unemployment. AI/AN adults are five times as likely not have a high school diploma, one third as likely to have a bachelor's degree and 2.3 times as likely to be unemployed compared to NHW. Nearly one third of AI/AN are uninsured, triple the level of uninsured NHW. The AI/AN infant mortality rate is ten times the rate among NHW, suggesting vulnerable family dynamics for a child’s first year of life. Alcohol-related disorders was the top reason for AI/AN emergency department visits in 2018-2019. Chronic liver disease/cirrhosis is the 4th cause of death among Tucson’s AI/AN, behind diabetes, neither of which make the top causes for NHW. TIC is building a new program to address substance abuse. A Community Coordinated Response (CCR) Consortium (to be named later) will strengthen the cross-jurisdictional and multisectoral service system to serve AI/AN individuals and families in a manner that is culture- and language-appropriate. TIC will screen clients for these risk factors. Advocates will utilize motivational interviewing and trauma-informed care to provide crisis response, case management and referral, as well as conduct community outreach, education and marketing. TIC has letters of commitment from: the TIC Board of Directors; Tohono O’odham Nation; Pima County Health Department; Arizona Department of Child Services; the University of Arizona Native American Training and Research Center, and the Urban Indian Health Institute. Grant funds will be used to support 4.33 FTE staff positions. TIC will contract with an evaluator to assist with process and outcome evaluation. The Urban Indian Health Institute and the University of Arizona will assist TIC and partners to develop data sharing agreements in order to establish baseline measures for measurement of outcomes over the five years of the grant.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).