Ten grants totaling $1.5 million were awarded to organizations throughout the country that promote exemplary mental health practices in communities, according to an Oct. 3 press release from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).The grants were awarded under Phase II of SAMHSA's Community Action Grant Program.
The funding will be used to help support consensus building, infrastructure development and training activities for the delivery of services to children with serious emotional disturbance, adults with serious mental illness and those with co-occurring substance disorders.
"These grants are designed to test and evaluate exemplary programs in new settings with various ethnic, geographic and other populations," said SAMHSA Administrator Charles G. Curie. "Our goal is an independent life for everyone within the circle of friends and family."
Grants were awarded to the Rural Crisis Intervention Team in Blacksburg, Va., $149,692; the Council for Jewish Elderly in Chicago, Ill., $149, 863; the Center for Common Concerns Inc., in San Francisco, Calif., $150,000; Concord Counseling Services in Westerville, Ohio, $150,000; and the Department of Family Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, Md., $149,690.
Also Indiana University in Indianapolis, Ind., $149,818; the New Jersey Mental Health Institute Inc., in Mercerville, N.J., $150,000; the New York Mental Health Association in Albany, N.Y., $150,000; Cayuga County Safe Schools/Healthy Students in Auburn, N.Y., $150,000; and the Advocacy Initiative Network of Maine in Bangor, Maine, $150,000.
Boston University School of Public Health 
