H79SM086156

Hennepin County Family Response and Stabilization Services (FRSS) Project - Project Abstract

The Hennepin County Family Response and Stabilization Services (FRSS) Project is a SAMHSA System of Care Expansion and Sustainability Grant. The project aims to provide culturally specific FRSS for youth aged 5-18 with severe emotional disturbance and their families in Hennepin County, MN. The FRSS services will assist youth and families in addressing mental health crises and unsafe behaviors, while also establishing ongoing community-based mental health supports. This approach aims to reduce the need for deep-end interventions.

Hennepin County is a large and diverse county, encompassing 45 cities, including Minneapolis. The county is home to many underserved Black, Latino, Somali, and American Indian youth and families who experience repeated involvement in the deep-end system due to a lack of community-based mental health supports.

The Hennepin County FRSS Project will provide Family Response (FR) for 1,175 youth aged 5-18 and their families. This includes an in-person response within one hour and 72 hours of crisis support following the initial contact. In the first year, FR will serve 200 youth and families, increasing to 250 in year 2, 325 in year 3, and 400 in year 4.

Additionally, the project will offer culturally specific Stabilization Services (SS) lasting up to eight weeks. These services will help 470 youth and families navigate systems, establish natural and formal supports, and improve their ability to manage symptoms and unsafe behaviors. Hennepin County will contract with 4-5 culturally specific mental health agencies led and staffed by Black, Latino, Somali, and American Indian communities to deliver these stabilization services. In year 1, SS will serve 80 youth and families, increasing to 100 in year 2, 130 in year 3, and 160 in year 4.

To facilitate referrals, the project will establish partnerships with 15 individual schools that serve large numbers of students from the racial and cultural populations of focus. These schools will serve as the primary FRSS referral mechanism.

The goal of FRSS is to stabilize more children and youth with severe emotional disturbance and their families in community settings, while also reducing racial disparities in access and outcomes. Key objectives include reducing emergency department utilization, total days spent out of home, and law enforcement involvement related to psychiatric or emotional problems by 20% in the population of stabilization services participants. The project also aims to achieve youth and family satisfaction targets related to involvement in their own care, cultural responsiveness of SS, and reductions in problem behaviors and symptoms.

Hennepin County will also promote youth and family engagement in the development, implementation, and evaluation of its system of care. They will establish a System of Care (SOC) Governance Board and a .75 FTE Lead Family Coordinator will partner with additional project staff to conduct outreach to existing BIPOC parent groups, facilitate information-sharing and feedback events in BIPOC community spaces, recruit BIPOC youth and parent leaders, conduct youth and family surveys and focus groups, and participate on the project team and SOC Governance Board.

The Project Director will establish the SOC Governance Board, recruit and train board members including both youth and family representatives and decision-makers from child-serving systems, and convene the group monthly to review SOC reforms and progress.

Hennepin County

TO PROVIDE COMMUNITY-BASED SYSTEMS OF CARE FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH A SERIOUS EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE AND THEIR FAMILIES. THE PROGRAM WILL ENSURE THAT SERVICES ARE PROVIDED COLLABORATIVELY ACROSS CHILD-SERVING SYSTEMS, THAT EACH CHILD OR ADOLESCENT SERVED THROUGH THE PROGRAM RECEIVES AN INDIVIDUALIZED SERVICE PLAN DEVELOPED WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF THE FAMILY (AND, WHERE APPROPRIATE, THE CHILD), THAT EACH INDIVIDUALIZED PLAN DESIGNATES A CASE MANAGER TO ASSIST THE CHILD AND FAMILY, AND THAT FUNDING IS PROVIDED FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE NEEDS OF YOUNGSTERS IN THESE SYSTEMS.

93.104 - Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances (SED)

Division of Grants Management [HHS - SAMHSA]

Minneapolis, Minnesota 554870006 United States

Single Zip Code

Grants for Expansion and Sustainability of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances (SM-22-007)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 414% from $676,370 to $3,474,580.