MEDIA RELEASE

The state Department of Health Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division (CAMHD) and Developmental Disabilities Division recently received a grant for $3.6 million dollars over four years from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Hawaii was one of 15 sites selected nationwide through a highly competitive application process. The funding will provide accessible and effective services and support statewide to Hawaii children and youth with co-occurring mental health needs and developmental disabilities.

“Children that have both mental health and developmental disability issues face unique challenges and often have difficulty obtaining effective services to meet their needs,” said Health Director Loretta J. Fuddy. “For families, navigating through a sometimes complex network of multiple agencies can be daunting. We hope this new grant will make it easier to access better services for this historically underserved group of Hawaii children and their families.”

Deborah Kobayakawa, parent consultant with the Learning Disabilities Association of Hawaii, commented: “I’m very pleased to hear that Project Laulima has received SAMHSA funding to strengthen our system and to develop ways to provide more integrated and comprehensive services to children and youth with co-occurring mental health needs and developmental disabilities.

“Accessing mental health services has helped my young adult son with DOH Awarded $3.6 Million for Child and Youth Mental Health and Developmental Disability Support Services
developmental and intellectual disabilities to overcome the obstacles associated with the transition into adulthood. He actively participates in his ongoing mental health care and benefits from ongoing treatment in all major life areas.”

The new grant is the successor to the one-year, SAMHSA-funded, System of Care Expansion Planning Grant, which brought in just more than $520,000 to CAMHD in October 2011.

The 2011 planning grant created Project Laulima, a state initiative focused on bringing together agencies from across the state’s child-serving system to solve access and service quality issues.

The new grant will continue and expand Project Laulima’s work with DOH, the Department of Education, the Department of Human Services, and several family and youth organizations to improve collaboration and coordination to meet the multi-agency needs of children and youth with both mental health needs and developmental disabilities.

Project Laulima will also focus on the development of new policies and programming, and providing service accountability. Grant funds will support capacity building efforts, including community outreach activities as well as workforce development and comprehensive training initiatives.

Fuddy added, “It is hoped that, in time, the infrastructure developed by this grant can address the needs of other multi-agency youth, including those in state custody, and in areas of juvenile justice, transition-aged youth, and so forth.”

For more information on Project Laulima, or the implementation grant, contact Pratima Kumar, project director, at (808) 733-9228.