DMH/MR AWARDED ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION GRANT
November 25, 2003
Contact: Kent Hunt, Associate
Commissioner, Substance Abuse Services
Phone: (334) 242-3961
Montgomery---The Alabama Department of Mental Health and
Mental Retardation Substance Abuse Services Division has
been awarded a $200,000 grant through Resources for
Recovery, a competitive national grant program of the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation. Alabama is one of only six states
to receive this award. This program was designed to
encourage states to identify, support, and implement
strategies that expand treatment capacity and/or the
populations eligible for alcohol and other drug treatment
services through more effective use of existing state
expenditures. The grant will be formally presented by
Patrick Lanahan, Executive Director of the Resources for
Recovery National Program Office, to Governor Riley, Mental
Health Commissioner Sawyer, and officials from the Division
of Substance Abuse Services at a press conference at the
Governor’s Office on Tuesday, November 25, 2003 at 2:00 p.m.
The grant also provides the opportunity for the state to
participate in a two-year Policy Forum on Alcohol and Other
Drug Treatment and Financing to assist in the identification
of strategies for expanding treatment services.
The grant is particularly significant with respect to the
Riley administration’s emphasis on “efficiency” in the
delivery of governmental services to target populations. In
spite of the accelerating need for substance abuse services,
funding for these services has yet to become a major
priority in the state. According to the latest survey
(1999-2000) from the National Association of State Alcohol
and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), Alabama ranks last (46th
of the 46 states reporting) in state per capita expenditures
for substance abuse prevention and treatment services. The
state has consistently held this rank since 1994.
Governor Riley has admonished his cabinet to streamline
operations in their departments without cutting services to
those in our state who are in critical need of medical care
and treatment. The Substance Abuse Services Division of the
Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation
is the designated agency by mandate to provide public
treatment and prevention services in the state.
The substance abuse problem in the state is growing,
however, at an astonishing rate. The rate of young people
experimenting with drugs is also growing. In the 2003 Youth
Risk Behavior Survey over 50% of Alabama’s Middle School
students had tried alcohol, and over 15% had used marijuana.
Kent Hunt, Associate Commissioner for Substance Abuse
Services said, “Being last in funding among other states
will not deter us from pursuing excellence in the delivery
of services to a growing population of citizens who are in
need of substance abuse treatment. With this grant and the
expertise of nationally recognized experts associated with
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, I am confident that we
can move services in this state to another level.”
Currently, the Alabama Department of Mental Health and
Mental Retardation contracts with 47 certified community
agencies for the provision of treatment and prevention
services throughout Alabama. Approximately 20,000 citizens
were admitted for substance abuse treatment in publicly
funded programs in Alabama in FY 02. The most recent needs
assessment survey of the department estimates that there are
over 250,000 Alabama adults who are currently in need of
substance abuse treatment services. “It is this gap in
services that we hope to close with the help of the Robert
Wood Johnson grant,” said Hunt. “Anyone can see, the needs
are great and the resources are limited,” he added.
