PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals recently announced that it has received a $5 million federal grant to treat and educate young adults with newly identified mental health problems, including schizophrenia.
The “Now is the Time” Healthy Transitions Program grant also will educate the families of the young people recently diagnosed with mental illness. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, awarded the grant.
The grant funds will be used to produce earlier interventions into serious mental health problems among young people. One goal of the five-year grant: to make it possible to disentangle schizophrenia and other mental illnesses from addiction, which often masks them and postpones effective treatment.
“We are extremely excited about the interventions that we feel we can make over the next five years with this grant,” BHDDH Director Craig Stenning said in an interview with PBN.
The grant announcement was made at an event entitled Hope for Recovery Forum. The event was co-sponsored by the Rhode Island Drug and Alcohol Treatment Association, Rhode Island Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts and Anchor Recovery Community Center.
