HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the award of 23 grants, totaling $6.8 million, to help eight states and the District of Columbia support crisis mental health services and to supplement existing mental health and substance abuse systems in the areas affected by the September 11 terrorist-inflicted disaster.

The grants are the first wave of awards by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) from a total of $28 million in funding made available to the agency under the emergency response supplemental appropriation, all part of a total of $5.1 billion in disaster-related funds released by President Bush on Sept. 21. The SAMHSA program dollars respond directly to the significant actual and potential psychosocial effects of the attacks and devastation on adults, adolescents and children in the affected communities.

"The nation has been responding in remarkable ways to the needs of their communities through financial contributions and donations of all kinds. The people of HHS, too, have been lending a helping hand," Secretary Thompson said. "We have sped the wheels of the department's funding capacity to help identify and meet the overwhelming long-term human needs for counseling, support, and recovery in the wake of this man-made tragedy. The grants being made today are just the beginning of the department's ongoing commitment to help America's citizens heal."

The nine mental health-focused grants will support state mental health needs assessments to enable affected states to identify gaps in mental health service capacity that cannot be filled through existing regular and emergency funding mechanisms. SAMHSA's substance abuse prevention- and treatment- supported grants -- 14 in all -- will supplement current hotline crisis counseling capacities and enhance current resilience-building, family-strengthening and substance abuse prevention activities in affected communities.

"The foremost aim of these grants is to ensure that needed psychosocial supports for affected Americans are identified and made available for as long as anyone affected by this tragedy may need them," said Joseph H. Autry III, M.D., SAMHSA's acting administrator. "While the dollars may be small, their impact can be measured in reclaimed health and well-being of many."

The $6.8 million, allocated by state, is as follows: New York, $2.2 million; Connecticut, $1.1 million; Pennsylvania, $650,000; New Jersey, $1.05 million; Virginia, $465,000; Maryland, $250,000; Massachusetts, $50,000; Rhode Island, $50,000; and the District of Columbia, $987,000.

MENTAL HEALTH GRANTS

Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene Services (N.Y.) $ 250,000 Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services $50,000 Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine $50,000 Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation, and Hospitals $50,000 New Jersey Division of Mental Health Services$ 50,000 Maryland Mental Hygiene Administration $50,000 Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Substance Abuse Services $50,000 D.C. Department of Mental Health $50,000 Massachusetts Department of Mental Health $50,000

SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION GRANTS

Julia Dyckman Andrus Memorial (Mt. Vernon, N.Y.)$52,000 The Mental Health Association of New York City $52,000 New York State Governor's Office $850,000 Connecticut Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services $300,000 District of Columbia Mayor's Office $200,000 State of Maryland Alcohol & Drug Abuse Addiction Services $200,000 Virginia Governor's Office $200,000 New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services $400,000

SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT GRANTS

New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services $1,000,000 Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services $750,000 New Jersey, Department of Health and Senior Services $600,000 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health $600,000 Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse $215,000 The District of Columbia $737,000