NH DHHS Receives Planning Grant to Improve Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families

Concord, NH – The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

(SAMHSA) has awarded the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human

Services (DHHS) a 1-year planning grant. The award, “Systems

Transformation for Youth,” will help in developing a strategic plan for

providing comprehensive and coordinated services to children and youth as

well as developing a plan for the blending of funding across child-serving

agencies. The grant is for $300,000.



“Every child deserves the best care possible, not only for their physical

health but their mental health as well,” stated DHHS Associate Commissioner

Nancy Rollins. “With this funding we will be able to bring together child

serving agencies to work together to enhance existing services and

ultimately to improve the mental health of people we serve.”



During the past year, the Children’s Behavioral Health Collaborative has

convened all child-serving systems and stakeholder groups to develop a

strategic plan. Receipt of this grant will help further the

Collaborative’s efforts in the final development, marketing and

implementation of the strategic plan. Members of the Collaborative include

the Endowment for Health, who with the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation

jointly funded the initial year’s planning effort. Other members in the

Collaborative also include various family organizations as well as staff

from the Departments of Education and DHHS.



“This grant provides New Hampshire with the opportunity to create a more

efficient and effective children’s behavioral health delivery system,” says

Kim Firth, Program Director at the Endowment for Health. “Working together

we will create a unified system of care that fosters resiliency and ensures

improved outcomes for children, youth and families struggling with social,

emotional, and behavioral problems.”



The strategic plan will provide recommendations for improving and expanding

services for children and youth from birth to age 21.