Friday, May 9, 2025
5/9/2025
TCC SAPTA Project - Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) is a consortium of federally recognized tribes located in Interior Alaska. The service region of TCC is 235,000 square miles, an area equal to about 37 percent of the state of Alaska, and just slightly smaller than the state of Texas. The total population of the region is estimated at just under 100,000 of which approximately 16,000 are Natives. TCC is the primary provider of health, behavioral health, and social services within the rural interior and operates a comprehensive behavioral health system based out of Fairbanks. There 40 distinct villages within the rural interior ranging in population size from 1,289 to 20 (average being approximately 150). More than 70% of the rural villages are not on a main road system. Considering the physical size, limited access, and variability of the area to be served, TCC's Behavioral Health Department is not always able to immediately identify, pivot, or respond to the emerging needs within one specific village or subregion. For example, whereas we hear from villages on the road system closer to the Canadian border and Anchorage that they are seeing a lot of methamphetamine, the majority of villages off the road system farther north, where transportation is more limited, indicate minimal to no meth in the village. Also, we hear from several northern villages that opioids are being mailed into their villages resulting in extensive abuse of the majority of adults in the village. With this funding, our overarching goal is to improve our ability to respond more effectively and efficiently to the emerging drug prevention and treatment needs in the TCC region. This is consistent with the primary purpose of the SAPTA program “to reduce the prevalence of substance abuse and decrease the overall use of addicting and illicit substances among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations.” Tanana Chiefs Conference’s Behavioral Health Services, in collaboration with other key TCC departments, will establish a process for identifying and reporting emerging and disparate needs within our villages related to substance use prevention and treatment as well as enhance the reach and flexibility of local early identification services to inform and respond to these emerging needs. Once these village or regionally based needs are identified, this funding will be used to establish a multi-departmental response team to strategically plan how to wrap around the needs and prioritize access to prevention and treatment resources within the existing system. We will have a designated Case Manager/Care Coordinator assigned to the prioritized population to help them through the system providing intensive support and resources. In addition, we will fill the most pressing training and resource gaps identified previously: for staff training in the unique needs of meth and opioid user engagement and pre-post treatment for safe, sober social detox/living for meth users.
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).