NCJ Number
197121
Date Published
March 2002
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Panelists from the workshop on Training and Capacity Building Regarding Substance and Mental Health Concerns held at the 2002 National Asian-Pacific American Family Against Substance Abuse (NAPAFASA) Conference held in Washington, DC discussed their specific State and local programs and services from across the United States, targeting the Asian-Pacific Islanders and issues and concerns specifically related to training and program service-capacity building in the areas of substance abuse and mental health.
Abstract
In March 2002, the National Asian Pacific American Family Against Substance Abuse (NAPAFASA) Conference was held in Washington, DC. The fourth workshop of the conference entitled, Training and Capacity Building Regarding Substance and Mental Health Concerns focused on problems encountered by State and local agencies when attempting to develop and fund current or needed substance abuse and mental health related programs and services targeting the Asian-Pacific Islanders. Four panelists representing Asian-Pacific Islander support organizations and programs from across the United States (Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Training Branch, Guam, Safe and Drug Free School and Community Programs, American Samoa, and the API Nursing Association, Los Angeles, California) discussed substance abuse and mental health services specific to the Asian-Pacific Islander population. Service and program limitations were presented in the following areas: (1) qualified and trained personnel; (2) grant funding for programs and services due to insufficient numbers and data; (3) low program referrals due to governmental processes; and (4) lack of documentation and record-keeping. Suggestions to combat some of these limitations in training and program capacity building included: (1) compilation of sufficient data in the application for grant funding; (2) improve the role of networking across programs, resources, and State and local jurisdictions; (3) initiate and improve documentation process; (4) the use of a multiple approach to widen the scope of available service choices; (5) a national effort towards a unified voice for APIs; and (6) the establishment of an executive order mandating Federal agencies address API needs.