H79SM086381

Enhancing a Culture of Care - The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a four-year public university, founded in 1876 and located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The university serves 9,231 students from Iowa, other states, and several countries.

UNI is seeking funding to implement the "Enhancing the Culture of Care" project at UNI. The project is aimed at suicide prevention, enhanced substance abuse services, and improved mental health care, especially to underserved and marginalized populations on campus.

To achieve these purposes, UNI proposes to:

1) Enhance suicide prevention education, outreach, and training, and build a mental health ally network and infrastructure among students, faculty, and staff. This will be done by hiring a Health and Wellness Coordinator who will help collaborate with front-line departments to train them on suicide prevention, substance abuse prevention, and mental health awareness. We will broadly distribute resources and hold train-the-trainer sessions so that front-line departments can continue this work after the project ends.

2) Enhance substance abuse services by administering the services to reduce overall risk to students. This will be done by contracting with a substance abuse counselor to administer services at no cost to students. We will also distribute resources to increase awareness of substance use issues among students and staff.

3) Develop and implement culturally competent group programming to support the mental health of students impacted by mental health issues, with a particular focus on marginalized populations. This will be done by launching groups to provide psychological education, encouragement, connection, and support to at-risk and marginalized populations. We will partner with the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice to train additional staff to assist us in our efforts. Additionally, we will improve the overall cultural competency in our Student Health Center with annual training at a minimum.

This capacity-building and outreach effort will help enhance the culture of care and reduce risk factors for students.

This project fits very well with the university's strategic plan goals of:

1) Diversity & Inclusion
2) Campus Vitality
3) Community Engagement
4) Student Health and Wellness

We hope to serve, at a minimum, 3,000 students and provide suicide prevention, mental health, and substance abuse training to 300 or more faculty and/or staff annually, for a total of 3,300 people served.

University Of Northern Iowa

SAMHSA WAS GIVEN THE AUTHORITY TO ADDRESS PRIORITY SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT, PREVENTION AND MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS OF REGIONAL AND NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE THROUGH ASSISTANCE (GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS) TO STATES, POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF STATES, INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS, AND OTHER PUBLIC OR NONPROFIT PRIVATE ENTITIES. UNDER THESE SECTIONS, CSAT, CMHS AND CSAP SEEK TO EXPAND THE AVAILABILITY OF EFFECTIVE SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT AND RECOVERY SERVICES AVAILABLE TO AMERICANS TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF THOSE AFFECTED BY ALCOHOL AND DRUG ADDITIONS, AND TO REDUCE THE IMPACT OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE ON INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES, COMMUNITIES AND SOCIETIES AND TO ADDRESS PRIORITY MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS OF REGIONAL AND NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE AND ASSIST CHILDREN IN DEALING WITH VIOLENCE AND TRAUMATIC EVENTS THROUGH BY FUNDING GRANT AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROJECTS. GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS MAY BE FOR (1) KNOWLEDGE AND DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION PROJECTS FOR TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION AND THE CONDUCT OR SUPPORT OF EVALUATIONS OF SUCH PROJECTS, (2) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, (3) TARGETED CAPACITY RESPONSE PROGRAMS (4) SYSTEMS CHANGE GRANTS INCLUDING STATEWIDE FAMILY NETWORK GRANTS AND CLIENT-ORIENTED AND CONSUMER RUN SELF-HELP ACTIVITIES AND (5) PROGRAMS TO FOSTER HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN, (6) COORDINATION AND INTEGRATION OF PRIMARY CARE SERVICES INTO PUBLICLY-FUNDED COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTERS AND OTHER COMMUNITY-BASED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SETTINGS

93.243 - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance

Division of Grants Management [HHS - SAMHSA]

Iowa United States

State-Wide

Garrett Lee Smith (GLS) Campus Suicide Prevention Grant (SM-22-004)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 200% from $101,999 to $305,997.