Friday, April 4, 2025
4/4/2025
Native Connections with Cultural Connections - Abstract for the Mescalero Prevention Program's Native Connections Proposal The Mescalero Prevention Program is applying for SAMHSA Native Connections funding to build on and continue previous prevention efforts to stop suicides on the reservation and to improve resiliency and traditional values among our youth and adults. The Mescalero reservation is in southeastern New Mexico’s Otero County. The Reservation is rural with approximately 1,200 residents living in the town of Mescalero and approximately 3,000 in the 88340-zip code area. Our overarching goal for the Native Connections program is To improve the quality of life for all our Mescalero Apache people by increasing resiliency through reinvigorating our traditional values and customs and our Apache way of life. The following measurable, SMART objectives will be implemented to help us reach this goal: Objective 1: Decrease the rate of suicide completions among Mescalero youth from 50.0 per 100,000 people to less than 10 per 100,000 people by September 30, 2029. Objective 2: Increase the involvement of Mescalero people in the traditional activities, learning sessions, and workshops by 10% by September 30, 2029. Objective 3: Decrease the percentage of Mescalero youth who drink alcohol monthly from 20.7% to less than 5.0% by September 2029. Objective 4: Decrease the rate of suicidal ideation/planning for our Mescalero Youth from 14.3% to less than 5% by implementing the Lead and Seed, evidence-based prevention program for families and youth. Activities are designed for each objective to ensure that we can accomplish these objectives with Native Connections funding. MPP has a Team of Prevention Specialists with extensive experience and capacity in implementing research-based prevention programs. Our Coordinator will be Pius LaCroix Garcia who worked on previous suicide prevention federal funding. Our Director, Ardena Orosco has led our prevention Team since 2005 and has grown the Team’s capacity and knowledge. We will include a Youth/Family case manager for intervention, referrals and post-vention interventions as needed. Also, on staff we have a Data Coordinator, an outside evaluator/epidemiologist, and a Youth Coordinator. We update our Needs Assessment and Community Readiness Assessment (Tri-Ethnic Center, University of Colorado) annually through data collected on an ongoing basis. We have a strong working relationship with the Southwest Tribal Epidemiological Center and help collect the Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS) every other year (odd years) and our Team collects the New Mexico Community Survey annually in March-May from adults. We also evaluate our workshops and traditional sessions with surveys from the participants. We will work with the Suicide Prevention Coalition that was mandated by the Tribal Council. They will take the data we collect and use it for updating the Prevention Tribal Strategic Plan as a required activity. We also will update and distribute the postvention protocols with the Youth Case Manager, the Suicide Prevention Coalition, and the Native Connections Coordinator. At all points in the Mescalero Native Connections project the Suicide Prevention Coalition will be involved in guiding the program. All activities and strategies will be designed based on the cultures, traditions, and norms of the Mescalero Tribe. Both the Prevention Suicide Coordinator and Youth Coordinator, and all MPP staff, are from the Tribe and are knowledgeable about Mescalero lifeways. The project will be evaluated by an external, independent evaluation firm that has worked with MPP for the past 20 years. All process and outcome data collected will be confidential and will be useful for program replicability.
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).