H79SM087548

FY2022 Mecklenburg County Recast Collaborative - Mecklenburg County Public Health Department, commonly referred to as Mecklenburg County Public Health (MCPH), is applying for the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration FY2022 Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma (RECAST) (SM-22-019) grant opportunity.

MCPH is a NC Health Department accredited with honors in 2019 by the NCLHDA Board. It is managed by Health Director, Raynard Washington, PhD, MPH, and is comprised of 940 employees serving approximately 1.2 million Mecklenburg County residents, including the City of Charlotte with a population of 874,579 (source: 2020 Census).

MCPH is in its fifth year of the 2018 RECAST grant and experienced in promoting resilience, trauma-informed approaches, and equity within Mecklenburg County, the second most populous county in North Carolina, which includes Charlotte.

In the aftermath of the 2016 fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott by a Charlotte Mecklenburg police officer and hundreds protesting in Uptown Charlotte regarding police tactics and brutal, unjust treatment of African Americans, the impact of secondary trauma from direct and indirect exposure to traumatic events may be contributing factors to collective trauma. Then, on September 7, 2021, just over a year ago, several suspects fired nearly 150 rounds into a home, mortally wounding 3-year-old Asiah Figueroa and striking his 4-year-old sister. This incident was related to a string of five drive-by shootings involving Charlotte Mecklenburg high school students firing into occupied homes. The community grieved with candlelight vigils and protested that more must be done to prevent this type of escalating violence across Charlotte.

Three RECAST staff members have made large strides in promoting trauma-informed and resiliency trainings to 3,016 community stakeholders, thus far, and worked with community stakeholders who, in turn, worked with county commissioners to get violence deemed a public health issue in our county. Thus, the Mecklenburg County Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) launched in 2021 within the Mecklenburg County Public Health Department, the first OVP to reside in a public health department within NC. This is because between 2017-2020, there has been a 70% increase in gun-related assaults.

In this grant proposal, OVP and RECAST aim to reduce violence in Mecklenburg County by collaborating with county, city, and community partners to increase opportunity and build healthier, more resilient communities and provide community engagement opportunities for high-risk youth and their families. OVP and RECAST worked with over 13 community violence prevention advocates to create the FY2023-FY2028 Community Violence Prevention Strategic Plan.

RECAST staff work in tandem with OVP to provide violence prevention advocates the tools needed to build resiliency in their communities, especially those who have faced events of violence and have collective trauma from a history of exposure to violence. RECAST is the behavioral health link that many violence prevention organizations lack; thus, RECAST partners with community-based organizations to assist high-risk youth and their families by engaging youth in violence prevention advocacy efforts and provides faith-based communities navigators for linkage to behavioral health and trauma-informed resources and support networks.

RECAST priorities align with the Community Violence Prevention Strategic Plan by providing more equitable access to trauma-informed community behavioral health resources. Community stakeholders are engaged to implement the Community Violence Prevention Strategic Plan. RECAST is positioned to better support community healing by promoting and orchestrating community and youth engagement opportunities and disseminating culturally and developmentally appropriate information about behavioral health resources for those impacted most by collective trauma.

County Of Mecklenburg

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]

Charlotte, North Carolina 282022216 United States

Single Zip Code

Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma (SM-22-019)

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been shortened from 12/30/26 to 09/29/26 and the total obligations have increased 100% from $2,000,000 to $4,000,000.