Alaska Mental Health Trust awards over $1 million in grants supporting housing, workforce and system improvements

WASILLA – The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority board of trustees recently awarded over $1.1 million in grants to partner organizations across the state.

The grants are intended to serve as investments to support workforce development, and improving communications systems that support Trust beneficiary service delivery.

The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority is a state corporation that administers a comprehensive mental health program to support people experiencing mental illness, intellectual and developmental disabilities, substance use disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, and traumatic brain injuries.

Alaska Mental Health Trust awards an average of $25 million in grants each year to support nonprofits, providers, state and local agencies, and projects that promote long-term system change or innovative solutions that improve the lives and circumstances of beneficiaries, according to a recent press release. The corporation also collaborates with other funding partners for many of these projects and initiatives.

“These grant investments are a great illustration of how the Trust uses its resources to implement systems change improvements within our continuum of care,” Alaska Mental Health Trust CEO Steve Williams stated in the press release. “We are grateful to our partners at the state and in the behavioral health care sector for their work championing new and innovative solutions to meet Trust beneficiary needs and improve the systems that serve vulnerable Alaskans.”

According to the press release, five Alaskan recipients, including one from the Mat-Su Valley, received large grants worth over $100,000 during this recent cycle.

Set-Free Alaska received $250,000 for a recidivism reduction and recovery project that addresses the primary risk factors of ongoing criminal activity and substance misuse through an innovative therapeutic campus model and offers both treatment and wraparound supports.

Grant funds will go toward a residential facility that will house up to 30 clients and provide a comprehensive recidivism reduction and recovery model that includes supportive housing, certified peer support, therapeutic treatment, education, job skills, and intensive case management.

The Arc of Anchorage received $216,000 for adult residential treatment housing.

Three statewide initiatives revived grant funding during this cycle.

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Service (DHSS) and Division of Public Health received $285,000 for the OpenBeds Real-Time Treatment Facility Availability Platform, a secure, cloud-based behavioral health capacity and referral platform that provides real-time access and referral capabilities between call centers, providers, and stakeholders, as well as community members seeking services through a public-facing referral webpage.

OpenBeds platform is currently utilized by state departments and numerous health care providers to help communicate treatment facility availability, data analytics, and other data. Grant funds will support the continued and expanded use of the platform.

Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living received $197,400 for Alaska Careline Infrastructure Development. IAC currently operates the Alaska Careline and responds to behavioral health crisis calls statewide.

A Federal Communications Commission-approved three-digit dialing code that serves Alaska’s National Suicide Prevention Lifeline phone number will go online later this year.

Once active, calls made to calls to 988 made in Alaska will be routed to the Alaska Careline.

Grant funding will help increase the overall capacity through additional technology and infrastructure, and call counselor and management positions.

The Alaska Psychiatric Institute received $255,150 for SHARP Workforce Recruitment and Direct Incentive Support.

SHARP is a state program run by DHSS that works to improve professional recruitment and retention by providing loan reimbursement or direct financial incentives to medical and behavioral health practitioners who commit to working in the state.

Trust funds will support SHARP program contracts for three advanced nurse practitioners, one physician’s assistant, and two medical doctors at API to help stabilize the hospital’s staffing pattern.

Applications for Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority grants are accepted throughout the year.

For more information, visit alaskamentalhealthtrust.org/about/grants.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com