Grant helps Catholic Charities
offer trauma recovery for youth BOLTON — U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) announced Sept. 7 the Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Mental Health Services has awarded a $400,000 grant to Catholic Charities Inc., Diocese of Jackson. The title of the grant project is Spreading Trauma-Informed Services to Public Mental Heath in Mississippi.
Catholic Charities will be the lead entity in Trauma Recovery for Youth (TRY) a constellation of Mississippi State Government and non-profit organizations and the National Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) member sites who will institute a statewide trauma-informed system of care throughout Mississippi to meet the needs of children and families.
One in five Mississippians (540,000) will need mental health care sometime in their lifetime.
Mississippi is currently significantly below its capacity to be trauma informed and to offer appropriate trauma response due to the following factors:
1) Mississippi poverty (ranked 50th in the nation in most poverty indicators) offers limited resources for children, and increases the likelihood of trauma;
2) Repeated cuts to the mental health budget leave frontline clinicians few training opportunities;
3) A history of racial conflict in the state which presents an uphill battle for culturally competent mental health service delivery;
4) The Department of Human Services is in the early stages of mediation to settle the second class action lawsuit to force the agency to carry out its sacred mandate to protect our children.
For more information, contact Ms. Kelly Wilson, project director, at Catholic Charities Jackson at 601-326-3745.
