Grant to the Farm Resource Center, Inc.

This notice is to provide information to the public concerning a planned single-source award by the CMHS/SAMHSA to the Farm Resource Center (FRC) of Cairo, Illinois, to fund the ``Mental Health Outreach to Coal Miners, Farmers, and their Families'' project. Upon receipt of a satisfactory application that is recommended for approval by an Initial Review Group and the CMHS National Advisory Council, up to $300,000 in Federal funds may be awarded to the FRC for each of the 2 years of this program. This is not a formal request for applications. Grant funds will be provided only to the FRC. Authority/Justification: This grant will be made under the authority of Section 520A of the Public Health Service Act (42 USC 290bb-32). Eligibility for this grant award is limited to the Farm Resource Center (FRC) of Cairo, Illinois. The FRC has provided mental health and substance abuse outreach services in rural Illinois since 1986. FRC has provided counseling to farmers, coal miners and their families, established a Statewide hotline, and utilized outreach counselors to work with rural families in their homes to address problems such as depression, alcoholism and domestic violence. FRC is uniquely qualified to carry out the goals of this program in that it has the distinction of being the only suitably located organization with extensive experience in linking coal miners, farmers, and their families with mental health and substance abuse services. As part of their program, FRC has recruited, trained, and dispatched volunteers to provide outreach and counseling services to the target population. Further, because of this and their years of experience and organizational readiness, the FRC can deliver services immediately to those in need. Background: A significant portion of the adult population in the United States reports experiencing personal or emotional problems in the course of a year. Half of these people say they are unable to solve their problems, and approximately one-third report they are unable to do anything to make their problems more bearable; yet relatively few seek help. Therefore, outreach services are important to engage more persons into appropriate services. Outreach, when carried out aggressively, can engage and empower coal miners, farmers, and their families by giving them access to needed mental health services. The effects of economic stress are pervasive in rural areas, and coal miners, farmers, and their families have been particularly hard hit. Unemployment and underemployment have resulted in a high incidence of problems including alcohol/drug abuse, family violence, depression, suicides, and other stress-related symptoms. This grant is intended to address the mental health needs of a wide range of rural population groups including the poor, the elderly, the disabled, women (particularly those of child bearing age), and minority populations in Illinois and West Virginia. The proposed project will serve as a national demonstration site on the development and implementation of outreach to rural families who are experiencing mental illnesses or are at-risk of developing mental illnesses.