Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
Fairbanks Native Association (FNA) has developed the Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB) Early Intervention Project (Early Intervention) to provide Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) services to all ethnicities of children, adolescents, and adults in Alaska’s FNSB region. This project will expand and enhance the FNSB’s behavioral health (BH) continuum of care through the leadership of its community coalition (BH Council). While FNA is an Alaska Native non-profit and some funding is American Indian/Alaska Native-specific, Early Intervention will, like many FNA projects, serve all ethnicities. FNA is ideally placed due to its 50 year tenure in the FNSB. During two of these decades, FNA served as the only substance abuse provider in the region. The FNSB has a high at risk population due to significant rates of BH problems, as documented in Section A of this proposal. FNA is the lead agency for Early Intervention. FNA will initially provide SBIRT services in two Specialist and two Generalist settings and will add four Generalist settings in the middle of year one. Specialist settings are 1) the FNA BH Center Prevention Department, and 2) Interior AIDS Association, a medication-assisted treatment provider. Generalist settings are 1) Thriv, an Early Childhood/Family provider and 2) the Effie Kokrine Charter School, which serves at-risk adolescents. Four new Generalist settings will come on-line during project year two. Settings are selected to achieve maximum early intervention coverage for all age groups in the FNSB. Early Intervention will be guided by the FNA-established BH Council. The BH Council’s 18 members provide System of Care and recovery support services in the FNSB in the following service domains: Substance Abuse, Mental Health, Juvenile and Criminal Justice, Child Welfare, Head Start, Education/Employment, Spiritual/Religious, Housing, and Social Services. The goal of Early Intervention is to reduce alcohol and other drug use through early intervention. It is guided by three phases with outcomes identified for each phase. Phase I: Project Planning and Start-Up outcomes are 1) organizational structure results in smooth operations and 2) Quality Improvement results in required Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) outcomes. The Phase II: Operations outcome is to achieve positive change in required GPRA outcomes (abstinence, housing status, employment and/or education, criminal or juvenile justice involvement, social connectedness, at-risk behaviors, emergency department use, hospitalization for SUD or mental, suicide attempts, utilization, and retention in services). The Phase III: Phase Out outcome is the project is sustained in 100% of the specialist sites and in 50% of Generalist sites. Early Intervention’s two highly qualified evaluators will guide improvement, ensuring this project is assessed and adjusted to achieve designated outcomes. Early Intervention will serve 885 unduplicated individuals over the five year project period intervening at the problem drinking stage to avoid long-term addiction.
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).
