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Funded Projects - SAPTA

Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc.

Cook Inlet Tribal Council's (CITC) SAPTA project aims to reduce the prevalence of addictive and illicit substance use among Alaska Native/American Indian (AN/AI) individuals and their families who are impacted by substance use and reside in the Anchorage metropolitan area. The project aims to reduce substance use through training, education, and prevention services. Funds will be used to support travel to and from tribal partner organizations within the region to support training and education surrounding screening, assessment, and trauma-informed care. Gathering of Alaska Native (GOAN) training, culture kits, and supportive services will also be provided to youth and their families.

Kenaitze Indian Tribe

Kenaitze Indian Tribe's SAPTA grant is designed to expand awareness of and access to a community-coordinated treatment and prevention program. This will be achieved by using evidence-based practices to support Native youth and adults by expanding treatment options and expanding prevention services under a formal referral process both inter-tribally and with community partners. Kenaitze will also review the current Chemical Dependency programing and Substance Abuse Prevention programing on an annual basis to assess, optimize, and adjust the program planning and implementation to ensure that the activities provided are in line with un'ina needs.

Kodiak Area Native Association

The Kodiak Area Native Association’s SAPTA project will work to address the issue of substance use among the Alaska Native/American Indian population of the Koniag region of Alaska. The SAPTA project will provide training for medical and administrative staff on substance use-related topics, expand community education, develop the skillset of the remote, rural Village Response Teams, and improve coordination with community partners on a wide array of topics. This project will also support expanded and enhanced behavioral health services by training providers, improving procedures and workflows for rural clients, supporting a Medical Peer Support Specialist to enact harm reduction measures, and developing a more comprehensive referral structure between prevention, treatment, and aftercare services. The project will conduct a viability assessment of education and early intervention programs like Prime for Life for use in the local school system and support community initiatives and groups providing programs for Native youth and families. Finally, to promote positive development, resiliency, and self-sufficiency, the program will organize and host activities that are youth-centered and youth-driven or that promote family engagement.

Norton Sound Health Corporation

Norton Sound Health Corporation's "Rural Strategies for Mitigating Costly Effects of Substance Abuse in Bering Strait Region" project proposes to reduce regionally prevalent substance abuse through targeted activities. These include working with regional organizations to develop a strategic plan directing a coordinated response to substance abuse concerns; conducting screeners at locations where more people with substance use concerns gather; developing a student peer support system and youth council to address substance concerns; and operating a multi-disciplinary mobile crisis response unit. At the end of the project, people will have greater understanding of substance use concerns; move into recovery; have access to peer supports; and decrease dependency on emergency services.

SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Corporation

Prince of Wales Island is one of the largest islands in North America and has several small communities separated by a vast road system. Starting at its primary care clinical base in Klawock, AK, the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Corporation will add an intensive outpatient program to its existing behavioral health programming, and partner with community groups to amplify local healing and prevention activities.

Southcentral Foundation

The Southcentral Foundation's (SCF) Behavioral Health Rural Team (BHRT) will use the SAPTA grant to collaborate with members of our established Tribal Health Advisory Councils on common goals to decrease substance use rates, increase treatment, and improve aftercare for both adults and especially our youth at risk in rural and remote communities. These rural communities are committed to engaging their community members and local stakeholders, such as schools, to work together to reduce the prevalence of substance abuse and decrease the overall use of addicting and illicit substances. SCF's BHRT will work with our Tribal Health Advisory Councils to develop culturally grounded prevention activities, provide evidenced-based treatment and referral trainings for rural health and community workers, develop awareness messaging, and work to eliminate the stigma of seeking behavioral health treatment for substance abuse in these rural and remote areas.

Tanana Chiefs Conference

Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) SAPTA project's overall goal is to improve our ability to respond more effectively and efficiently to emerging drug prevention and treatment needs in the TCC area. The TCC service region, an area within the interior of Alaska, covering an area roughly the size of the State of Texas and is primarily only accessible by boat or plane and with some of the harshest weather on the planet. Through collaborative partnerships, enhanced treatment and early identification services, policy development, and improved reporting mechanisms, we will implement multi-departmental response teams that strategically addresses the needs and prioritize access to prevention and treatment resources within the existing system.

Five Sandoval Indian Pueblos, Inc.

Five Sandoval Indian Pueblos, Inc. is strengthening and improving the health of its community members by providing prevention, intervention, and aftercare services to the Pueblos of Cochiti, Jemez, Santa Ana, and Zia. Prevention and Intervention services will focus on youth, family, and tribal officials to prevent and reduce substance abuse and misuse while enhancing traditional and cultural resiliency skills through community activities and education such as language preservation, traditional arts and crafts, and other cultural events.

Pueblo of Taos

The Community, Outreach, Resilience, and Empowerment (CORE) Youth Outreach Program was created in 2015 to address a variety of behavioral health needs and supports for native youth, with a focus on youth attending Taos Municipal Schools. As the CORE program became more entrenched in the work, needs deeper than school-based services emerged. The program aims to develop a common language among service providers and educators by providing professional development in screening tools (and provide uniformity in our screening tools), provide community education through our Team about how to talk to youth about substance use, and increase awareness of and simplify access to Taos Pueblo Behavioral Health services. We will expand on the use of the SMART model approach to provide evidence-based care for clients at risk of substance abuse. We will also develop a coordinated referral system amongst all youth providers to streamline and add cohesion to our youth services.

Ute Mountain Ute Tribe

The overall goal of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe's (UMUT) Growing Healthy Ute initiative is to leverage evidence-based strategies to increase access to comprehensive, culturally appropriate services and programming that address substance abuse and suicide prevention and intervention among youth and adults. The UMUT will build on its highly successful Growing Ute Initiatives that have promoted intergenerational cultural learning and leadership by youth and elders to develop solutions to serious tribal issues.

Bay Mills Indian Community

The Bay Mills Indian Community will implement Operation Resilience, a culturally relevant, innovative, and comprehensive project designed to assist the Anishnaabe people of Gnoozhekaaning (Bay Mills) and surrounding community in reducing the prevalence of substance abuse and decrease the overall use of addicting and illicit substances in our community. The main goal of this project is to increase protective factors and add an additional layer of alternative services. Operation Resilience will feature a trauma-informed approach to facilitate long-lasting impact and change the substance abuse narrative that has plagued our community for generations.

Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe

The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe (MLBO) plans to better serve the MLBO community and MLBO plans to build a robust referral and collaboration system in which we improve our current care coordination system. To do this, MLBO has three main goals: improve current successful substance use disorder (SUD) Programming by implementing youth-oriented programming, establish a robust referral network in order to reach at least 15 more youth clients in need of SUD services, and provide Opportunities for Youth Sober enrichment. It is the hope of the MLBO community that with this funding we are able to implement a system that is able to provide services to adolescents and their families during all stages of recovery.

Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes

The Spotted Bull Recovery Resource Center will develop a "SAPTA SafePlace" for youth and their families to have a place for homework, leadership opportunities, and a place to engage in safe and substance free activities with their peers and family members. The project will implement Wellbriety sessions, cultural activities, and leadership opportunities for Youth and Adults at the SAPTA SafePlace. The aim is to expand behavioral health care services using the Wellbriety model and curricula for appropriate age ranges.

Feather River Tribal Health, Inc.

The Feather River Tribal Health, Inc. (FRTH) is committed to elevating the health status of the American Indian/Alaska Native people and community. FRTH will carry out the mission of health and wellness through intensive cooperation and coordination between program participants, family members, community members, internal providers, and community cultural leaders. The SAPTA project will enable FRTH to enhance the positive influence of prevention and recovery for members impacted by trauma, pain, addiction, and grief. The SAPTA project will create a new path of hope and light, paved with supportive services and resources to combat the drug spirits that destroy and evoke the healing spirits that restore and protect.

Indian Health Council, Inc.

Indian Health Council, Inc. (IHC) is responding creatively to build better community-based systems that will reduce the impact of alcohol and other drugs on American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) lands. In rural Northern San Diego County, factors such as history, culture, and geography are identified barriers to accessing substance use prevention and treatment for Native American communities. The IHC proposes increasing access and use of culturally competent substance use treatment and prevention services in Native American rural populations, by using a mobile behavioral health clinic, cultural brokers, and incorporating complimentary traditional Native American healing practices in treatment and services.

Two Feathers Native American Family Services

The purpose of this project is to reduce the prevalence of substance abuse and decrease the overall use of substances among American Indians (AI’s) in Humboldt and Del Norte counties by targeting services towards those with the most entrenched cross-generational substance abuse disorders (SAD). The broad system goal is to build a more effective, collaborative, and sustainable structure within a cultural AI framework to address substance use in the local community. This project will do this through expanded and improved care coordination, culturally appropriate evidence-based and practice-based behavioral health (BH) service models, and early intervention models for AI youth. Project goals are to: develop and expand partnership to develop workforce and increase coordination of substance abuse disorder/BH prevention, treatment, and aftercare services for AI’s; increase early intervention and overall access to coordinated and effective behavioral health services by streamlining referral process and providing services; and provide youth development activities to support prevention of substance use and promote positive Native identity.

Ponca Tribe of Nebraska

The Ponca SAPTA project will be focused on providing evidence-based and culturally relevant treatment to American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) individuals. The overarching goals of the project will be to expand service availability, improve clinic integration for a holistic approach, increase utilization of services, improve outcomes, and increase cross-system collaboration. We aim to reduce the stigma of mental illness and receiving treatment that is pervasive in the AI/AN population by using a holistic treatment approach and integrating culturally relevant practices into the treatment modality. Proposed activities will be implemented to provide services across the lifespan with special focus on initiating prevention and early intervention strategies for youth at risk and implementing specific programming for youth and young adults, in addition to expanding services for adults and older adults. Activities will include a substance use treatment program that includes both evidence-based and culturally relevant modalities, as well as a medication assisted treatment program, culturally relevant activities, like talking circles and sweat lodges, and a youth group that focuses on prevention.

Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska

The Santee Sioux Nation SAPTA program will use local resources to increase knowledge about socioeconomic factors that contribute to the overall health of individuals and families and reduce substance abuse treatment disparities that are the highest in Nebraska and several times higher than those of other races/ethnicities. The Santee Sioux Nation has developed an outline for a culturally centered substance abuse strategic plan, "Cinka Wakan" (Sacred Child). This Program will implement and adapt the “Cinka Wakan” plan, enhancing a collaborative infrastructure capable of building our capacity to meet a more comprehensive integrated-care range of needs for Native American youth involved with substance abuse, trauma, and other systems (child welfare, juvenile court, and our schools). The following curriculum and tools will be used: American Indian Life Skills, Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools for Native American Indian Youth, The Dakota Cultural Identity Scale, and Historical Trauma Scales.

Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate

This project will expand and enhance our capacity to reduce substance misuse and decrease overall use of addictive and illicit substances across our tribal lands. The project will initiate peer recovery support and initiatives to expand and enhance our existing substance use disorder inpatient and outpatient programs for both adults and youth in our communities. We will work with all community behavioral health and social service agencies in providing extended and aftercare treatment services which will provide a longer continuum of care for substance use disorder treatment. The Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate/Dakotah Pride Center will be the lead agency for the SAPTA scope of work and will work in close coordination will all agencies to integrate substance use disorders and mental health care to the user population of the members Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate. The Motto of the program will be: "Treatment is not the end of Addiction; it is the beginning of Recovery."

Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians

The goal of this project is to improve the overall wellbeing of Houlton Band of Maliseet Tribal members and their families who are at risk of mental health, suicide, substance use and co-occurring disorders. The Behavioral Health Program will expand by adding case management and clinical staff. We will provide an array of coordinated services offering prevention, evidence-based treatments, cultural activities, family engagement, community collaboration and outreach.

Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana

The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana project integrates existing behavioral health supports across all service departments and partners to create a continuum of care that promotes prevention, treatment and aftercare of substance abuse. Tribal Court, Health, Housing, Social and Youth services all collaborate with local partners to create community-clinical linkages that prevent and address substance abuse and related adverse health outcomes. These wrap-around services guide health promotion and disease promotion using evidence-based and culturally appropriate models of harm reduction. The project supports case coordination and prevention through Tribal behavioral health programs and the Tribe’s Life Enrichment Shelter, a safety-net program that provides needed housing and social services for citizen self-sufficiency.

Cherokee Nation

The Cherokee Nation's SAPTA program is designed to reduce the prevalence of substance misuse and abuse among American Indian and Alaska Natives in targeted Cherokee communities by increasing both access to behavioral health services and use of traditional Cherokee practices. The SAPTA project will address issues of infrastructure, policy, workforce development, prevention, intergenerational connections, and community education. Program activities include clinical and care coordination services to youth and families through hands-on service navigation, referrals, and trauma-informed counseling services. The targeted strategies utilized in this program encourage community capacity building, enhanced referral and feedback loops between communities and the Cherokee Nation Health system, reduction in both community and provider stigma, policy changes for sustainability and a public commitment to embracing traditional healing practices as a vital component of recovery for Cherokee youth.

Comanche Nation

The Comanche Nation's Motive for Movement SAPTA Project will incorporate programming to conduct a tribal needs assessment and develop a strategic action plan based on identified priorities. Proposed activities to support the plan include: (1) designing and implementing culturally competent public education campaigns using substance use disorders and suicide prevention messaging and de-stigmatizing messaging; (2) sponsoring Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test and Addiction Severity Index trainings; and, (3) increase community awareness of local behavioral resources contributing to increased access to services. Our goal for these initiatives is to create a coordinated behavioral health infrastructure using the intra-tribal and community partnership approach making treatment for AUD/SUD/OUD and co-occurring disorders more accessible to tribal and community members.

Kickapoo Tribe

The Kickapoo Tribal Health Center Behavioral Health SAPTA Project offers substance abuse prevention, intervention, and aftercare services to Native American adults, adolescents, and children who live within the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma service area. The project will provide a foundation for delivering and sustaining comprehensive, integrated, community-based, and culturally appropriate prevention and treatment services to Native Americans and their family members who suffer from, or are at risk for, substance abuse disorders. The focus is to increase the capacity, effectiveness, and efficiency of substance abuse prevention services by reducing the prevalence of substance abuse behaviors among the at risk population.

Modoc Nation

The Modoc Nation SAPTA program will reduce the burden of substance use disorders for American Indian and Alaska Natives community members in and around Ottawa County, Oklahoma. The Lost River Treatment Center and the Modoc Healing House have partnered on this project to increase access, awareness and utilization of culturally appropriate practices that foster resiliency and encourage recovery while ensuring that adults and youth receive the necessary education, prevention, intervention, treatment and aftercare services. The program’s care coordination staff will utilize evidence-based, culturally appropriate healing methods while the community-based staff will advocate for policy change, recommend infrastructure modifications, and educate community members to reduce stigma and build recovery networks. This program relies on strategic partnerships and engagement with community members to inform all stages of its implementation and to ensure its sustained impact on decreasing annual substance use rates and increasing access to services.

Osage Nation

The Osage Nation SAPTA project will fulfill its purpose through an enhanced collaborative approach between the Osage Nation Prevention Program and Osage Nation Counseling Center, allowing for seamless delivery of substance abuse prevention, treatment, and aftercare services. This comprehensive action plan includes fostering community coalitions, expanding behavioral health care services to provide Celebrating Families and Wellbriety Medicine Wheel, improving the process for behavioral health care referrals, expanding GEN-I initiatives of implementing Too Good for Drugs and Violence through a youth mentoring program and increased support of the Wah-Zha-Zhe Youth Council, and ensuring sustainability of project activities.

Benewah Medical Center

The Coeur d'Alene Tribal Benewah Medical Center and Marimn Health Wellbriety Services Program will expand an existing SUD recovery program to include prevention-treatment-and recovery activities that provide access to services, education, as well as supporting cultural resiliency within the entire community. The program will extend beyond those who are returning home from incarceration or in-treatment and will expand to provide a range of support services for youth, families and members of the community. With the goal in mind to reduce the prevalence of substance abuse and decrease the overall use of addicting and illicit substances among American Indian and Alaska Native populations; Marimn will also enhance existing cross-system collaboration, expand youth, family and community resources, and enhance culturally appropriate approaches.

Cowlitz Indian Tribe

The Cowlitz Indian Tribe “Connect Project” will bring more Cultural Activities to our clients, giving clients hands-on opportunities to incorporate culture into their life-long journey in recovery. These cultural activities vary enough that clients will be able to find one or more activity that speaks to them, while supporting their recovery efforts. The goal is that by helping clients find a culturally relevant activity, it can then replace the hole/emptiness clients speak of when making the transition from a life of addiction to a life of recovery. Our goal is that the cultural activities we have chosen to share with our youth will provide healthy prevention, resulting in healthier life choices.

Squaxin Island Tribe

The Squaxin Island Tribe's Northwest Indian Treatment Center (NWITC) is a 33-bed residential treatment facility that serves adult American Indians from tribes located in Oregon, Washington and Idaho who have chronic substance abuse relapse patterns related to unresolved grief and trauma. The purpose of this project is to address gaps in treatment, aftercare and relapse prevention capacity by enhancing culturally focused approaches for substance abuse treatment and improving the network of recovery support services in clients' home communities after treatment. The project will promote client-centered recovery by improving the quality and intensity of culturally based, individualized treatment, aftercare and relapse prevention services. The project will also enhance and expand the development of the post-treatment peer support recovery coaching components and enhance comprehensive referral relationships with recovery support service providers in Northwest Indian Treatment Center clients’ home communities, while building and enhancing a collaborative network of trauma-informed, culturally responsive health resources for clients.

Pascua Yaqui Tribe

The Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, through the Pascua Yaqui Health Services Division's Sewa U'usim ( "Flower Children") Community Partnership Program, will expand the scope of evidence based or practice-based substance use services, and enhance coordination of the network of care including providers serving the Tribal community. We will offer Honoring Children, Mending the Circle therapy training to enhance treatment services for referred community members. The project will screen and enroll youth in services with a substance use diagnosis, as well as provide at least three (3) workshops for youth serving professionals on new screening, assessment tools, and their ability to identify and refer youth for services. Due to early onset for alcohol use, the Sewa U'usim Community Partnership Program will provide a weekly group on resistance and coping skills for 7- to 12-year-olds. Additionally, we will provide Purpose of Life training to the community and professionals to enhance early intervention and aftercare services.

Bakersfield American Indian Health Project

Bakersfield American Indian Health Project's (BAIHP) has designed its program goals and objectives to reduce the overall prevalence of suicide in the community by increasing the capacity of BAIHP’s behavioral health team, improving care coordination, and training, and increasing suicide prevention and early intervention efforts. The first objective is to improve care coordination by formalizing service partnership agreements and holding regular meetings of substance abuse providers in the community. The second objective is to increase the behavioral health service capacity by at least 100% within the first year. The third objective is to develop and implement prevention and early intervention strategies for AI/AN youth to prevent the use of addicting and illicit substances.

Central Oklahoma American Indian Health Council, Inc.

The OKCIC will more effectively identify and treat substance abuse disorders in our patients with evidence-based and culturally appropriate treatment, therapy, and support. Project goals are to: 1) Increase access to behavioral health therapy by 15% by targeting evidence-based mental and/or substance abuse disorder (SUD) treatment services; 2) Increase screening and assessment of patients for mental and/or SUD through evidence-based screening practices; 3) Increase patient access to needed basic services by 30% through appropriate case management and referral best practices; 4) Significantly increase family and community involvement through family support services; 5) Expand culturally appropriate evidence-based and practice-based services for the OKCIC population and Native youth in the service area; 6) Increase the number of patients with insurance coverage, so that 100% of behavioral health services will be covered by third-party insurers.

Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley

The Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley’s (IHC) primary goal for the SAPTA project is to improve access to Substance Use Disorder (SUD) services for American Indian and Alaskan Native residents of Santa Clara County, with services tailored to be culturally relevant and competent, and to strengthen community connections, which can reduce the risk of SUD. IHC will engage in a variety of outreach techniques, including use of social media, community newsletters, community training, and youth and parent advisory committees to increase knowledge of and to decrease stigma of using available services. The IHC of Santa Clara Valley believes in and implements a "No Wrong Door" approach to treatment.

Native Health

NATIVE HEALTH's SAPTA program aims to improve the behavioral health outcomes related to substance abuse, mental health awareness, and positive development for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults and youth and those underserved minorities in Maricopa County. The program will implement substance use prevention, education/awareness, enhanced screening and referral, and use practice-based prevention modalities, as well as evidence-based treatment options for urban AI/AN experiencing substance use disorder or considered at-risk for substance abuse and early onset substance use. Using Case Managers, Counselors, and Peer Support Specialists, NATIVE HEALTH's SAPTA program will implement a referral toolkit to streamline screening and assessment to aid in referral capacity.

San Diego American Indian Health Center

San Diego American Indian Health Center will work this project into existing programming and substantially improve our behavioral health services with culturally appropriate, evidence-based, and practice-based models. Our plan features enhanced patient screening designed to recognize those at risk for substance abuse; enhanced efforts from a psychiatric nurse practitioner; and enhanced support for inpatient detoxification and treatment services to bolster clients as they achieve sobriety, receive counseling, and move toward aftercare. This program uses a Public Health Nurse to provide Assertive Community Treatment Intensive Case Management, an evidence-based approach, to address treatment and aftercare needs of Native SAPTA clients. We will strengthen our substance abuse prevention efforts by strategically augmenting the work of our San Diego County-funded Prevention and Early Intervention Youth Center, engaging and expanding on the activities of the Generation Indigenous (GEN-I) initiative. By significantly improving prevention among youth, we can reduce the need for treatment and aftercare in future generations.

United American Indian Involvement, Inc.

The United American Indian Involvement, Inc. (UAII) SAPTA services will be provided to youth, young adults, and adults by adopting a family strength-based approach to wellness to provide a culturally appropriate, comprehensive, and coordinated system of care. The UAII will provide prevention and early intervention efforts through workshops and activities to promote youth empowerment and family engagement. Workshops will be structured and developed for educational, cultural, and recreational purposes. The purpose of UAII's SAPTA Project is to improve care coordination, educate professional service providers and community members, and provide culturally sensitive Substance Use Disorders services including prevention, early intervention, treatment, and aftercare for the AI/AN community in Los Angeles County.