Thursday, April 25, 2024
4/25/2024
Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services, Inc. (CCNS) is seeking funding to support the creation of a dedicated, specialized team of behavioral health professionals to address a potential suicide crisis in our community, which is expected to be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed CCNS Suicide Prevention, Response, and Recovery (SPRR) Initiative will leverage our established and successful network of programs which include crisis, mental health, substance use treatment and social support services across Brooklyn and Queens, NY. The SPRR Initiative will serve adults age 25 and older who have attempted suicide or experienced a suicidal crisis after discharge from emergency departments and inpatient psychiatric facilities, or are otherwise at-risk for suicide, as well as impacted household members. As part of the SPRR Initiative, individuals will receive a comprehensive and focused suite of services that includes supportive outreach and engagement, risk assessment, intensive care transitioning and care coordination to facilitate successful engagement in recovery supports, as well as targeted treatment that uses evidence-based practices to build resiliency. CCNS is well positioned to offer the SPRR Initiative to individuals in need. We are one of the largest behavioral health and social service providers in Brooklyn and Queens. Our primary service area includes 23 zip codes across the two boroughs, and the area is home to 1.48 million people with a wide range of socioeconomic and health disparities. The area also has the highest rates of domestic violence homicides and suicide deaths in NYC. Multiple sources indicate that COVID-19 has exacerbated socioeconomic and health disparities in NY. As the national epicenter of the crisis, NYC has manifested over half of COVID-19 cases in NYS. Together, Brooklyn and Queens make up nearly half of the cases and death rate across the entire city. The area with the most COVID-related deaths in the city is Corona, Queens, where 369 people to date have died of the virus, or 1 of every 302 people. CCNS has been embedded in Corona Queens for decades. We have community relationships as a longstanding mental health provider and will be able to start serving the community immediately upon award. Publications have cited the strains that the COVID pandemic is having on the general public, especially front line health workers and mental health, exacerbating substance use disorder, suicidal risk, and domestic violence and we are positioned to help. Based on the available data and our deep ties to the community we serve, we anticipate that a behavioral health crisis is imminent. Funding from this grant will allow us to add six behavioral health professionals specializing in suicide prevention, treatment, and recovery to expand access to much-needed services to our high-risk, high-need population. Further, funding will support the creation of a specialized Domestic Violence team who will be experienced in providing care to individuals who exhibit suicidality and are also victims of domestic violence. As a result of this funding, we will serve 1700 unduplicated individuals that meet program criteria during the grant period. We have also established multiple goals to ensure that individuals effectively engage in treatment and care to ultimately reduce the overall suicide rate and number of suicides in our area.
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).
