July 13, 2015

Manchin and Capito Announce Funding to Improve Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for Youth in West Virginia

Washington D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) announced a $250,000 State Youth Treatment Planning Grant (SYT-P) for the West Virginia State Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) to improve mental health and substance abuse treatment for West Virginia adolescents. The aim of the program is to bring together stakeholders serving adolescents to develop a comprehensive, strategic plan that strengthens existing treatment and recovery services and increases access to services.

“In communities all over our state, I have visited with so many young people whose friends, families and neighborhoods have been just devastated by substance abuse,” Senator Manchin said. “As West Virginians, we value nothing more than the well-being of our children and families, and I am so appreciative of the many different individuals and groups that are working to end the epidemic we face. This funding will help in the cause by strengthening services for our young people who are struggling with mental health and substance abuse disorders. As your Senator, I am determined to do everything I can to help those young children grow up drug-free, with opportunities for a bright future in their own communities.”

“To tackle West Virginia’s drug epidemic, we must improve drug treatment and prevention programs, especially those programs designed to help our young people suffering from addiction. This was the number one lesson we learned at my drug prevention summit in Martinsburg earlier this year. The State Youth Treatment Planning Grant will help address this problem by enabling West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resources to develop a strategic plan for improving treatment for youth struggling with substance use and mental disorders. A spectrum of strategies is required to combat the drug epidemic, and this funding will help get us one step closer to a drug free West Virginia,” said Senator Capito.

The funding was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Center for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT).

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