The Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene (CCDMH) is the Local Government Unit (LGU) mandated by New York State, and provides oversight for all Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders services in Chautauqua County. The purpose of CCDMH is to plan, develop, and provide accessible, comprehensive, integrated, outcome-based mental hygiene services of the highest quality to residents of Chautauqua County, maximizing all available resources in the most efficient and cost-effective manner.
CCDMH was recently awarded two new grants. One grant addresses Opioid Abuse Disorder, and the other grant continues to advance their system of care initiative for youth. CCSI has provided staffing resources to CCDMH to support a variety of projects and programs over the last ten years and is pleased to continue this arrangement in the context of these new initiatives. More information about each grant is below.
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) Implementation Grant
The Chautauqua Substance Abuse Response Partnership, established by CCDMH, is one of eighty groups from rural communities receiving RCORP-Implementation awards of $1 million each to implement a set of prevention, treatment, and recovery activities over three years. The purpose of RCORP is to support treatment for and prevention of substance use disorder, including opioid use disorder, in rural counties at the highest risk for substance use disorder.
In late 2018, CCDMH was awarded a $200,000 RCORP Planning grant from HRSA. This grant funding further supported the Countywide Alliance for Enforcement and Rehabilitation (CAER) project activities and established the Chautauqua Substance Abuse Response Partnership, a collaboration of community agencies and service providers to address addiction in the county. CAER was formed in early 2018 by Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello to address rapidly-increasing opioid use across the county. CAER’s goal is to bring all sectors of the community together to reduce the incidence and prevalence of opioid use disorder.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Grant
In 2019, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) awarded CCDMH a $4 million grant over the next four years to CCDMH’s Chautauqua Tapestry. Chautauqua Tapestry is Chautauqua County's system of care (SOC) for children and youth that have emotional and behavioral challenges classified as Serious Emotional Disturbances (SED). Tapestry, currently in year 5 of the Tapestry 2.0 Expansion Initiative, provides supports, community education, and other resources and partnerships for children, youth, and their families throughout the county.
With the SAMHSA grant, the Tapestry Resilience Initiative will focus on two specific age groups of youth in the system of care. Young children (ages 0-8 years) who are experiencing serious emotional disturbance (SED) will be supported with activities and services that meet their needs and reflect the unique characteristics of families living in Chautauqua County. Simultaneously, college-aged students (18-21 years) in the transition to adulthood will receive engaging, educated, and integrated supportive care.
The goal of the Tapestry Resilience Initiative is to provide safe and engaging trauma-informed services to prevent mental, emotional and behavioral disorders and to identify and address concerns as early as possible and strengthen existing collaboration among community groups and forge effective coordination to provide the needed supports and services for children, youth, and their families.
For more details about these grants, contact Victoria Patti, MSSA, LMSW, Community Engagement Coordinator and Training Specialist, Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene.