Council committee backs applying for SAMHSA children’s mental health grant in partnership with Yale clinic

The Health Services Committee recommended that the New Haven County Council apply for and accept grant funding from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to support a system-of-care initiative for youth experiencing serious emotional disturbances, a committee chair said at the Jan. 23 meeting.

Committee materials and the chair’s remarks described the planned award as up to $1,000,000 per year for up to four years under SAMHSA’s children’s mental health initiative. The work, the presentation said, would be carried out in partnership with Yale University’s PRIME Psychosis Risk Clinic and would create a network of clinical and nonclinical partners — including faith-based organizations, schools, libraries, and parent-led groups — to reach youth at risk of developing psychosis and other serious emotional disorders.

The committee chair said the funding is “critical to the efforts obtained at improving youth mental health services in New Haven,” and urged full board support for applying for and accepting the grant. The transcript records the committee’s favorable recommendation but does not include a full-board roll-call recorded in the excerpted record.

The transcript excerpts do not include an implementation plan, timeline, or specific budget line-items for local matching funds. The committee asked the council to authorize city staff to execute documents and contracts necessary to accept the grant if awarded and to work in partnership with Yale and community partners on outreach and service coordination.