The Kodiak Area Native Association (KANA) requests funding to implement the SAMHSA Community Mental Health Center Grant Program to increase service capacity for behavioral health clients meeting the criteria for serious emotional disturbance (SED), serious mental illness (SMI), and/or Co-Occurring Disorder (COD) by onboarding additional staff, funding staff training, and implementing a new program to support providers’ mental health.
KANA currently offers a variety of behavioral health, medical, dental, and community services to the residents of the Kodiak region. 2019 Census estimates the population of Kodiak Island Borough to be 12,998. KANA’s service region includes seven communities, including the City of Kodiak and Kodiak Road System, as well as six, disconnected, rural villages located on Kodiak Island and nearby Spruce Island. Based in the City of Kodiak, KANA delivers services to approximately 26% of the region’s population, including more than 3,000 Alaska Native Beneficiaries, via two health clinics in Kodiak and clinics in five of the six villages.
Between April 2019 and March 2020, KANA provided behavioral health services to 382 clients, 170 of whom met the criteria for SED, SMI, or COD. Clients served in the same period between 2020 and 2021 included 163 SED, SMI, or COD clients. As of May 1, 2021, KANA’s waitlist for clients seeking behavioral health services was 86, with an estimated 40 clients meeting the criteria for SED, SMI, or COD. To address this need, KANA proposes to fully fund two Clinical Associates, a SUD-focused Clinician, and to partially fund an Assessment-focused Clinician. In addition, KANA proposes to provide staff training and implement the Healthy Healers program to provide mental health resources and support for behavioral health providers.
The Clinical Associates will provide walk-in, same day, and non-therapy and non-case management interim services for clients seeking Behavioral Health services. This is to include psychoeducation groups, pre-treatment groups, and short-term individual counseling. The SUD-focused Clinician will focus on providing services to COD clients who cannot be served by an SUD Counselor, and who would not be as effectively served by a Clinician specialized in other areas. The Assessment-focused Clinician will be responsible for providing Integrated and SUD assessments for all clients, including SED, SMI, and COD. KANA anticipates having the Clinical Associate positions fully operational by Year 1, Month 3, and the SUD and Assessment-focused Clinicians by Month 6. It is anticipated that KANA will provide services to 110 unduplicated SED, SMI, or COD clients in Year 1 and 150 in Year 2.
By the close of Year 1, the Clinical Associates will obtain Behavioral Health Practitioner (BHP) certification, which will allow them to better interface with and provide supervision for village-based Behavioral Health Aides. Finally, KANA intends to certify the Clinical Associates and an in-kind Clinician as Healthy Healers Facilitators by Month 8 of Year 1. These staff will plan to host two cohorts of 10 participants in Year 1, increasing to four cohorts in Year 2.