[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 115 (Monday, June 16, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 32648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-15754]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration


Grant to the Farm Resource Center, Inc.

AGENCY: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Substance Abuse and 
Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), DHHS.

ACTION: Planned single-source award to support mental health outreach 
to coal miners, farmers, and their families.

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SUMMARY: 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 ``Mental Health Outreach 
to Coal Miners, Farmers, and their Families'' project. Upon receipt of 
a satisfactory application that is recommended for approval by an 
Initial Review Group and the CMHS National Advisory Council, up to 
$300,000 in Federal funds may be awarded to the FRC for each of the 2 
years of this program.
    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).
    Eligibility for this grant award is limited to the Farm Resource 
Center (FRC) of Cairo, Illinois. 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, alcoholism and domestic violence.
    FRC is uniquely qualified to carry out the goals of this program in 
that it has the distinction of being the only suitably located 
organization with extensive experience in linking coal miners, farmers, 
and their families with mental health and substance abuse services. As 
part of their program, FRC has recruited, trained, and dispatched 
volunteers to provide outreach and counseling services to the target 
population. Further, because of this and their years of experience and 
organizational readiness, the FRC can deliver services immediately to 
those in need.
    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. Therefore, 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.
    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.

    Dated: June 10, 1997.
Richard Kopanda,
Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 97-15754 Filed 6-13-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P