Thursday, April 25, 2024
4/25/2024
“Ma’lak na ha’åni” or Bright Futures, is WestCare Pacific Islands, Inc.’s (WPI) proposed trauma treatment program for youth ages 11-17 living on Guam in the aftermath of federally declared disaster Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018 (DR-4398). WPI, collaborating with cross-sector community partners including Guam Department of Education, Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center, Coalition for a Drug Free Dededo, Department of Youth Authority, and Sanctuary, Inc., will provide critical mental health support and treatment services for this vulnerable population through school site-based programming at two middle schools and one high school in central and northern Guam in the geographic catchment area of zip codes 96912 (Dededo), 96929 (Yigo), 96910 and 96932 (Hagatna), 96923 (Mangilao), and 96926 (Sinajana). The Evidence-Based Practices to be used in Bright Futures are Support for Students Exposed to Trauma (SSET), Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS), and Motivational Interviewing (MI). Services will be provided by three full-time clinicians and three youth service specialists with expertise in helping this specific population, and supported by a full-time Project Director, Evaluation Director, Research Assistant, and Administrative Assistant. Eighteen percent of Guam’s population is between the ages of 10-19, and one in 10 experience mental health problems, according to the Guam Behavioral and Wellness Center. The nonprofit Save the Children reported in 2010 that needs of children who live through a disaster include mental health needs; however, the organization reported to Congress in 2015 that of 81 recommendations for providing disaster-related treatment, only 17 had been fully met. WPI and partners will provide evidence-based, developmentally appropriate school- based mental health services including crisis counseling, direct mental health treatment services, coordinated referrals to community services, and follow-up to 50 students and their families at each site, for a total of 150 students during the life of this grant, if awarded. The project will also execute a workforce development training plan to increase mental health awareness and literacy of school staff, administrators, parents, and others who interact with these children, deepening and expanding community relationships to better serve the families of children affected by this disaster.
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).
