OpportunityTitle: Grants to Expand Services to Children Affected by Methamphetamine in Families Participating in Family Treatment Drug Court
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: SAMHSA/CSAT is restricting eligibility to existing Family Treatment Drug Courts that currently have a minimum of 20 methamphetamine using clients enrolled in the program or their Tribal/State or local governmental proxies who may apply on their behalf. Therefore, in addition to direct application by an individual Family Treatment Drug Court, units of Tribal/State/local government such as the Tribal Court Administrator, the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Single State Agency for Alcohol and Drug Abuse, the designated State Drug Court Coordinator, or local governmental unit such as county or city agency with direct involvement with the drug court may apply on behalf of an individual family treatment drug court.  When the Tribal/State, County or local government is the applicant, all grant funds awarded must be dedicated to the individual drug court with the exception of a small set aside, not to exceed two percent of the total award, that is permissible to cover the cost of administration and oversight of the grant.  Applications that propose services for parents, without proposing services for children, will not be reviewed and will not be considered for an award.  Eligibility is restricted to these entities because only FTDCs with a minimum of 20 methamphetamine using clients can provide the necessary structure of accountability not only for parents, but also service providers working to support parents.  A minimum of 20 methamphetamine using clients is required in order to have a sufficient number of participants in the program.  Eligible Family Treatment Drug Courts must have demonstrated relationships and agreements with family serving agencies/organizations and professionals necessary to undertake the proposed activities.  Although public and private nonprofit organizations have a pivotal supporting role in family treatment drug court programs and may be sub-recipients/contractors to the applicant, they are not eligible to apply.       In those cases where a Tribe/State/local unit of government (city/county) applies on behalf of a drug court, the Tribe/State/local governmental unit will be the award recipient and the entity responsible for satisfying the grant requirements.  Although funding is intended for individual family treatment drug courts, SAMHSA recognizes the scarcity of resources in some rural communities.  Therefore, it is allowable for contiguous rural counties in one State to apply as a multi-county partnership to serve more than one family treatment drug court within the identified counties.  However, in such situations, one county unit of government must assume the role of lead applicant, which will oversee and administer the grant for the multiple jurisdictions.  If this is the case, the applicant needs to clearly state how all the family treatment drug court clients involved in the program will be able to access the services.  Cont...    For complete eligibility requirements please see the RFA at http://samhsa.gov/Grants/2010/TI-10-009.aspx
Description: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2010 Grants to Expand Services to Children Affected by Methamphetamine in Families Served by Family Treatment Drug Court. The purpose of this program is to expand and/or enhance services to children (0-17 years) and families of those suffering from methamphetamine use and abuse, which have resulted in a referral/involvement in a Family Treatment Drug Court. The program will focus primarily on the children (0-17 years) of parents who use or abuse methamphetamine. Grantees are encouraged to include other caregivers or foster parents involved in the care of the children in the enhancement aspect of the family services. Applications that propose services for parents, without proposing services for children, will not be reviewed and will not be considered for an award. The parents served under this program must be involved in the family treatment drug courts and receiving substance abuse treatment services through participation in a family treatment drug court. The intent of this program is NOT to provide substance abuse treatment services already being provided through the family treatment drug court, but to provide services directly to the children and to expand and/or enhance supportive services for parents, caregivers, and families (See Examples of Services for Children, Parents and Families in Section I-2 of this RFA). Methamphetamine use by parents poses significant risks to their children. Young children whose parent(s) use methamphetamine are at increased risk of harm, including child maltreatment. In fact, most cases of child maltreatment by substance abusing parents involve children under the age of five. Of the total number of individuals admitted to treatment in 2005 for methamphetamine, 46% were women. This percentage of female admissions is higher for methamphetamine use than the percentage of female admissions associated with any other drugs except tranquilizers, sedatives and other opiates. The implication is that more children are likely to be affected by a parent&#146;s use of methamphetamine since caregivers are often predominately female. Compared with male methamphetamine users, female methamphetamine users use methamphetamine more days in a 30-day period, are more likely to be single parents who live alone with their children, and have worse medical, psychiatric, and employment profiles. These statistics indicate a greater risk for the children of mothers who use methamphetamine because the parent is likely to use the drug more often and have greater difficulty providing adequate parenting and economic support for the child. When the parent is dependent on methamphetamine, chronic neglect of the children becomes more likely, and the family and social environment is more likely to be inadequate and dangerous. (SAMHSA, Methamphetamine Addiction, Treatment, and Outcomes: Implications for Child Welfare Workers, 2006.) Methamphetamine exposure during pregnancy can jeopardize the development of the infant and can cause birth defects, growth retardation, premature birth, low birth weight, developmental disorders, difficulty sucking and swallowing, and hypersensitivity to touch after birth. Longer-term effects of prenatal methamphetamine exposure may be similar to other substances: long-term cognitive deficits, learning disabilities, and poor social adjustment in older children. In addition, children of substance abusing parents are at high risk of developing their own substance abuse problems, as both a history of childhood maltreatment and parental substance abuse increase the odds that individuals will abuse alcohol and drugs; and they may repeat the cycle of abuse and neglect that has plagued them in their childhood (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University; No Safe Haven: Children of Substance Abusing Parents; Jan. 1999, P.6). With the implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act in 1997 (ASFA, P.L. 105-89) and renewed emphasis on achieving permanency for children in the child welfare system, finding effective ways to address concurrent substance abuse and child maltreatment problems in families took on renewed importance. A report to Congress, mandated by ASFA and titled &#147;Blending Perspectives and Building Common Ground,&#148; established five broad goals to improve services to families affected by substance abuse and child welfare. Over the past ten years, considerable progress has been made at Federal, State, and local levels to meeting these goals. These goals are: 1) building collaborative working relationships across child welfare, substance abuse and courts; 2) engagement and retention of parents in substance abuse treatment; 3) assuring timely access to substance abuse treatment services; 4) filling information gaps; and 5) enhancing services to children. It is this last goal of enhancing and expanding services to children that is the primary focus of this grant program. Children Affected by Methamphetamine (CAM) is one of SAMHSA&#146;s services grant programs. SAMHSA&#146;s services grants are designed to address gaps in substance abuse and mental health prevention and treatment services and/or to increase the ability of States, units of local government, American Indian/Alaska Native Tribes and tribal organizations, and community- and faith-based organizations to help specific populations or geographic areas with serious, emerging mental health and substance abuse problems. SAMHSA intends that its services grants result in the delivery of services as soon as possible after award. Service delivery should begin by the 4th month of the project at the latest. Children Affected by Methamphetamine grants are authorized under 509 of the Public Health Service Act of the Public Health Service Act, as amended. This announcement addresses Healthy People 2010 focus area 26 (Substance Abuse).
GrantorContactEmailDescription: helen.zhou@samhsa.hhs.gov
GrantorContactText: Helen Zhou &lt;br/&gt;Office of Program Services, Division of Grants Management      &lt;br/&gt;Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration &lt;br/&gt;1 Choke Cherry Road &lt;br/&gt;Room 7-1082 &lt;br/&gt;Rockville, Maryland 20857 &lt;br/&gt;(240) 276-2482 &lt;br/&gt;