Behavioral Health for the Transgender Community in Hawaii - This project will expand The Hawaii Health & Harm Reduction (HHHRC’s) capacity to provide behavioral health services, including mental health services and treatment for substance use disorder, to persons of transgender experience served by HHHRC’s gender-affirming care and peer program clinic in Honolulu County. HHHRC’s clinical services team for this project includes an Addiction Medicine Specialist, Medical Director (APRN-Rx), Certified Substance Abuse Counselor (LCSW), Peer Specialist Behavioral Health Navigator, Program Director, Medical Receptionist, and Program . Additionally HHHRC’s transgender services program will provide referrals to needed behavioral health services. The clinical team will work with the Kua`ana team (meaning – big sister to littler sister) which is a peer-run program by and for people of trans experience to provide these integrated services. Preliminary work for the project will begin prior to funding and will include conducting a needs assessment and starting to identify members of the trans community who would benefit from participating. With staff trained up and workflows developed by end of November, the first clients would be seen in December 2024. The mobile component of the program will be launched in early 2025, with a six month reassessment of the program (with HHHRC evaluator and client surveys) to determine any changes. Once clients are assessed, they will have a treatment plan (based on the GPRA or similar tool) that will include onsite addiction treatment (all but residential), skills-based groups and mental health support.
