DeLauro: CT providers’ federal grants represent “amazing victory”

Bridges Healthcare in Milford and BHCare in North Haven will each receive $600,000 to support their work providing mental healthcare to local youth, announced U.S. Rep Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, at a press conference at Bridges on Thursday.

The congresswoman called the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, grants “an amazing victory.” The federal agency cancelled $2 billion in grants in January, only to have the decision reversed a day later after a national outcry. The cuts would have affected some 2,000 programs across the U.S.

“Providers around the county were shocked by what was such an unpredictable action,” DeLauro said, thanking state leaders for leading that outcry in Connecticut. “They reversed all of that. Public outcry wins the day, my friends.”

“It’s so important that any of you who are supportive of nonprofits speak up,” said Gian-Carl Casa, president and CEO of the CT Community Nonprofit Alliance. “We have to keep pushing for more, we have to keep fighting for more.”

DeLauro promised to fight for mental health services.

The funding will help the organizations provide services to youth who have experienced trauma and adverse childhood experiences.

“The impact of this work really extends beyond the individual,” by giving students and their families the tools to move forward and positively impact their communities, said Rebecca Kazlauskas, coordinator of Bridges’ school-based services and project director of the Supporting Our Students, or SOS, program.

“Folks don’t realize trauma is very significant,” said Daniel Resto, a case manager engagement specialist at Bridges, noting the lasting adverse effects on physical, social, and emotional wellbeing. Such trauma can often show up as an academic struggle that can derail children and follow them into adulthood, he said.

The SOS program run by Bridges puts clinicians directly in schools to reduce potential barriers to care and offer early intervention. Resto said students have said the program gives them the opportunity to get support without judgment and process emotions in a way they can’t elsewhere.

The federal money awarded through SAMHSA is used on programs ranging from therapeutic services for youth to medicated assisted treatment for people with substance abuse disorder.

DeLauro commended the staff of Bridges for their life-saving work.

“What is shameful is when you know you have a model that works, that’s tried and true, that has results,” DeLauro said, “to not say yes to increasing the resources and the investments in this is morally irresponsible.”