Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
MaineHealth, through the Maine Medical Center-Preble Street Learning Collaborative (PSLC) seeks SAMHSA funding to launch ProjectCONNECT, a mobile harm reduction, housing and treatment program designed to outreach, engage, and house individuals experiencing, or at imminent risk of, homelessness, with co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders in Greater Portland, Maine. ProjectCONNECT will assemble the currently-disparate puzzle pieces that comprise the region’s homeless resources, using evidenced-based practices and leveraging community-based resources to meet the essential needs of unhoused persons as they engage in recovery. The program targets adults unsheltered or in shelter facilities within the communities of Portland, South Portland, Scarborough and Westbrook, Maine, and will provide direct, onsite treatment at local encampments and other sites through a van-based Mobile Health Unit that will serve as the program’s service hub. The number of chronically homeless persons in Greater Portland has surged in recent years, more-than-tripling in the wake of the pandemic. Likewise, unhoused individuals who are veterans and survivors of domestic violence also spiked post-pandemic, as did those with children (2022 Point in Time survey). Significant gaps currently impede persons experiencing homelessness from accessing the continuum of outpatient psychiatric and case management services available through community mental health agencies and hospital-affiliated outpatient clinics. Extensive waitlists, raging from closed entirely to openings within two-to-six months or more, can deter people experiencing homelessness who are ready to initiate treatment, and many program models assume prospective patients have health insurance, as well as a smart phone with video and internet access, reliable transportation, and a level of organization that is inconsistent with the experience of homelessness, SMI and active substance use. Moreover, none of the existing outpatient clinics offer outreach or mobile treatment and only a portion offer peer support. ProjectCONNECT participants include those who are: 1) unable to overcome systemic barriers to accessing outpatient care, due to symptoms of the very conditions for which they need treatment (e.g. disorganized thinking and behavior, paranoia, impulsivity); 2) ‘lost to follow-up’ at critical care transitions from EDs, crisis stabilization units, medically supervised withdrawal centers (detox), hospitals and carceral settings; 3) over-reliant on emergency departments and law enforcement/EMS for crisis intervention; 4) unlikely to access benefits and housing resources without assertive intervention and support; and 5) unseen by formal systems of care due to the isolation of homelessness, shame of substance use, history of negative or harmful experiences with helping systems, and the unique symptomatology of psychotic and affective disorders that disconnects people from community. The proposed project will address the complex needs of this population by providing essential resources and services, either directly or through referrals to partner organizations. Interventions to be provided include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. Integrated behavioral health treatment and recovery support services, including medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and psychiatric medication management; 2. Support to enroll for health insurance (MaineCare), and other mainstream benefits, such as TANF, SNAP, Social Security Income and/or Social Security Disability Insurance; and 3. Coordination of housing – through partnership with Preble Street, a MaineHousing Continuum of Care provider, to provide Rapid Re-Housing Services and case management. The program will be housed within the Preble Street Learning Collaborative. MaineHealth is seeking grant funds totaling $500,000 per year for five years under this SAMHSA opportunity (SM-23-006), with a start date of September 30, 2023.
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).
