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The Virgin Islands Department of Health has applied for a federal grant that will help the territory upgrade the system that provides mental health services to children and their families.
The Virgin Islands System of Care Expansion Planning Grant (VISOCA) will enable the Virgin Islands to develop comprehensive plans to improve and expand services for young Virgin Islanders who struggle with serious emotional disturbances. The grant supports collaborations between government and private agencies and advocacy groups.
“The health of our children is more important than anything else, yet too often mental healthcare is overlooked, and children with serious illnesses go undiagnosed and untreated. By aiming for this grant, we are hoping to bolster the overall network of government and private entities that can reach out to children and their families and help them get the support and guidance they need to tackle the challenges of a mental health problem,” Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. said.
The grants are offered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an organization created by Congress in 1992 to better target services to Americans most in need and translate research more rapidly into the healthcare system.
The grants will help the Virgin Islands establish a System of Care framework for treatment—a holistic approach involving collaboration between government and private agencies, providers, families and children. Systems of Care have proven successful in serving children and their caregivers and helping them cope with serious mental and emotional problems. Some 10 percent of American children suffer from a serious mental health condition.
In the territory’s attempt to win the grant, Doris Farrington-Hepburn, Director of the Division of Mental Health, has spearheaded the creation of a comprehensive plan with the American Psychiatric Association Transformational Leaders and the Black Psychiatrists of America, to develop infrastructure, services and support networks required by the federal government.
“We need to do a better job in the Virgin Islands of tackling the problem of mental illness. And we must acknowledge the problem is most urgent in our youth, because if they are not properly diagnosed and treated, they will only succumb to their problems more severely as adults,” Farrington-Hepburn said.
Jurisdictions that win the grants will be awarded between $300,000 and $800,000. Congress has appropriated $14 million for the program.
“These grants fit in nicely with Governor de Jongh’s vision to tackle health issues by coordinating the work of a variety of the Virgin Islands’ government, private and non-profit entities with expertise in the area,” Farrington-Hepburn said.
The American Psychiatric Association Transformational Leaders and the Black Psychiatrists of America also assisted the Virgin Islands in putting forth an effective grant application, she said.
Improving the mental healthcare provider framework in the Virgin Islands is one aspect of Governor de Jongh’s mandate to reform healthcare in the territory and improve services to children who are most in need. Through the Children and Families Council, chaired by First Lady Cecile de Jongh, comprehensive programs are being developed to provide early education and healthcare, a proven strategy to reduce crime and poverty.
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