By Larke N. Huang, PhD, Director, Office of Behavioral Health Equity, SAMHSA

April is Minority Health Month, and on April 2nd I participated in a community town hall in Washington, DC, hosted by the HHS Office of Minority Health to kick off the month.  The event demonstrated how important it is for federal agencies to connect with and inform the community as we work to improve the health and wellness of diverse populations.  SAMHSA also held an event on April 2 to recognize LGBT Health Awareness Week and announced the release …

Written By: Pamela S. Hyde, J.D., SAMHSA Administrator
For the past seven years SAMHSA’s National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day (Awareness Day) has celebrated the resilience of young people, especially those young people who have mental health challenges. This year we are also honoring the caring adults, the “Heroes of Hope,” who help these young people demonstrate resilience following traumatic experiences. “Heroes of Hope” help young people reach their full potential by maintaining a long-term, stable and positive relationship—the kind of relationship that improves a young person’s ability to find success …

Guest Post Written By: Linda C. Degutis, Dr.P.H., M.S.N., director of CDC′s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
One of my nephews was diagnosed with depression when he was in high school.  He was treated, eventually finished school, and graduated from college at the age of 25.  He was accepted to law school, but tragically, he died by suicide shortly after receiving his acceptance letter.
Being at CDC where so many people are dedicated to preventing these kinds of tragedies gives me an opportunity to ensure that fewer families will experience such loss …

Through SAMHSA’s Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy, the Center for Social Innovation has announced awards of $25,000 each to eight peer-run/recovery community organizations.  These eight organizations will work within their states to increase public awareness about behavioral health services available through the Affordable Care Act.
Each site has an opportunity to innovate as a means of connecting with different organizations in their state and the general public.  Aside from focusing on the behavioral health services that are available through the ACA, organizations are to take an in-depth …

By: Rashetta Fairnot, Public Health Advisor, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
We had the pleasure of hosting the latest Recovery Month Twitter chat on behalf of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) with co-hosts Linda Kaplan, M.A., Senior Public Health Advisor, Marsha Baker, LCSW, Public Health Advisor. It was facilitated through the @RecoveryMonth Twitter handle, using the hashtag #RecoveryChat, and embraced the theme:  “Recovery Support:  Prevention, Collaboration, and Recovery Management.”  The event focused on how society can proactively promote behavioral health, as …