New Mexico State University-Las Cruces part of national pilot program examining behavioral health
May 23, 2014
New Mexico’s Doña Ana County is one of ten pilot sites for a project, funded by SAMHSA and facilitated by the USDA, that aims to help rural officials and behavioral health care providers reduce behavioral health problems at the local level. Through the Community Assessment and Education to Promote Behavioral Health Planning and Education (CAPE) project, these leaders will work with experts from federal agencies and a team from New Mexico State University, gathering information and creating customized plans to address the most pressing challenges in each area. Dee Owens, leader of SAMHSA’s Community Early Warning and Monitoring System, hopes CAPE will further the agency’s goal of sharing behavioral health data with community health decision-makers. “If we can work together in this project to get those measures,” Owens said, “and get them into a tool-kit where they’re sensible and can be used, then at the community level, you will be able to find out what’s going on and be able to target scarce resources where most needed.”
Spark Extra! Learn about SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Barometer, an annual statistical snapshot of behavioral health in each state.