Grant to the Farm Resource Center

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 ``MH Outreach to Coal Miners, Farmers, and Families'' project. Upon receipt of a satisfactory grant application that is recommended for approval by an Initial Review Group and the CMHS National Advisory Council, approximately $600,000 in Federal funds will be made available to the FRC to carry out a 1-year project. 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). An award is being made on a single-source basis in response to House and Senate Appropriation Subcommittees language contained in H.R. Report 103-553 and S. Report 103-318 instructing the agency to provide funding for two pilot projects to provide outreach counseling services to families of coal miners. A grant is the appropriate mechanism to fund this activity since support will be provided for a public purpose and agency involvement in the actual conduct of the activity is not required. 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, financial stress, alcoholism, and domestic violence. The FRC is uniquely qualified to carry out the aims of this project in that it has the distinction of being the only organization with extensive experience in linking coal miners, farmers, and their families with mental health services. Further, because of their years of experience and organizational readiness, the project can be implemented with a minimal start-up time. The FRC has in place mechanisms to recruit, train, and dispatch volunteers to provide outreach and counseling to the target population. Moreover, FRC's trained staff have a long history of working closely with State or regional associations of the United Mine Workers of America, Association of Public Health Administrators, the Easter Seal Society, and the Association of Community Mental Health Agencies. 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. Thus, 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. It will enhance effective service utilization in five areas by: (1) Expanding the mental health service capacity in communities to serve persons in the target population; (2) Increasing access to existing mental health and related support services; (3) Increasing utilization of existing mental health and related support services; (4) Developing effective public education efforts to address mental health and substance abuse issues; and (5) Providing family-centered outreach in the cultural context that is most appropriate for the client and family involved. 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.