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Drug and alcohol use, mental health conditions, unemployment, and homeless are just some of the public health crises that have amplified amid the pandemic. Hawaii was already facing many of these prior to the outbreak and has witnessed a sharp increase since the onset of the coronavirus. Now, Hawaii is expected to receive more than $4 million in federal funding to specifically address its methamphetamine and opioid abuse problem. Democratic U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant expanded its reach, for the first time addressing stimulant use. Previously, the money could be used only for opioids.

Officials plan to use the funds to help pay for prevention, treatment and recovery support services, Schatz said, adding, “Meth misuse and addiction has been a serious problem in Hawaii for decades, but recently the meth-related death rate has skyrocketed. The grant will help us put critical resources towards saving lives and combating this crisis.”

Native Americans and Alaska Natives in Hawaii have had the highest death rate from meth. Schatz wrote, “By specifically targeting the growing problems of meth misuse and addiction, we can effectively prevent them from becoming a more serious crisis. And for communities, such as Hawaii, that are facing escalating problems of meth misuse, addiction, and death, concerted federal interventions will help to reduce the number of deaths and serious harm…As ONDCP, along with your partner federal agencies, responds to the opioid overdose epidemic, it is imperative that you also prioritize efforts to stem and reduce meth misuse, addiction, and deaths.”

He added, “These high meth-related death rates are not limited to Hawaii. West Virginia and Alaska have both experienced high meth-related death rates—14 deaths per 100,000 people in West Virginia and 9 deaths per 100,000 people in Alaska.” Regardless of where the crisis originates, its effects are widespread.

According to Hawaiian Judge Edward Kubo, “We’re not proud of it. But crystal methamphetamine is our gift to the nation. It started here. At that time meth was called the poor man’s cocaine. It was cheaper and yet you could get the same high. And it exploded here. Meth became the worst thing that we ever saw.” With substance use on the rise worldwide amid the coronavirus, the much-needed funding will help to slow its progression in the already compromised state and elsewhere.

Read more on LegalReader.com.

The New Mexico Indian Affairs Department announced Friday their partnership with Harvard University to conduct research on both behavioral health and sacred sites issues impacting New Mexico’s Nations, Tribes, and Pueblos.

The NMIAD conducted two research projects with two graduate student teams as part of Harvard University’s “Native Americans in the 21st Century: Nation-Building II” course. The teams came from the university’s Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Health, Brandeis University’s The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, and Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School.

One research team focused on suicide prevention and postvention efforts in tribal communities by way of behavioral health workforce development. Students from that team included members of the Tyme Maidu Tribe and the Mattakeeset Nation.

The second team included members of the Tuscarora Nation and examined the state’s existing legal framework to identify more effective ways to protect and manage tribal sacred sites and cultural resources.

The Nation-Building II course typically ends with a presentation of a comprehensive research paper based on research problem definition, client relationships, and on-site community-based investigation. Due to the pandemic, all investigations, presentations, and report submissions were done virtually. Officials say each project’s findings will help shape and direct the agency’s work in their respective areas.

Read more on KRQE.com.

A new survey from the Commonwealth Fund reveals the disparate impacts of COVID-19 on Black and Latinx people, women, and people with low incomes during the early months of the pandemic. The pandemic has shined a light on existing inequities in the United States and how quickly a crisis exacerbates them.

Latinx and Black people, women, and people with low income are most at risk of mental health concerns because of the pandemic. Many Americans are experiencing mental health problems from COVID-19. But some groups report having stress, anxiety, or great sadness due to the pandemic at higher rates.

Latinx and Black adults have experienced economic hardship during COVID-19 at a rate between two and three times greater than white adults. More than half of Latinx and nearly half of the Black survey respondents said they have struggled economically, and were unable to pay for basic necessities, or used up all their savings or borrowed money — a substantially greater proportion than the 21 percent of white respondents who reported the same.

The 2020 Commonwealth International Health Policy COVID-19 Supplement Survey was conducted by SSRS, a survey research firm, and country contractors, from March 30 to May 25, 2020. The COVID Supplement Survey was part of a larger survey that was in the field from February to June 2020, and was administered to a nationally representative sample of adults ages 18 and older in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This study limits the analysis to the U.S. population.

The U.S. sample size was 1,266. Black and Latinx people were oversampled to stratify the analysis by race and ethnicity. Interviews were completed either online or using computer-assisted telephone interviews. The response rate in the U.S. was 14 percent. Data were weighted to ensure that the final outcome was representative of the adult population.

Read more on LatinTimes.com.

A community wellness program is demonstrating the benefits of culturally sensitive mental health care for Cambodian Americans, a group that has struggled to benefit from mainstream services.

Thanks to in-language workshops about mental health and culturally specific social activities, the majority of participants reported reductions in symptoms of depression and past trauma, highlighting the need for such programs in marginalized communities.

The results are significant given the lack of culturally sensitive mental health care programs for Cambodians, said community leaders with the Cambodian American Collective, an association of six organizations in Southern California that conducted the program.

“The reduction of symptoms of past trauma was really important for us,” said Susana Sngiem, executive director of United Cambodian Community of Long Beach, part of the collective. “The strategies that we provide really help our genocide survivors be able to cope with the trauma that they experience.”

Cambodians began migrating to the United States en masse in the 1970s and 1980s after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, under which more than 2 million people died. A 2015 study in the journal Psychiatric Services found that 97 percent of its participants — all of whom had lived in Cambodia at some point during the regime — met criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder. The rate surpasses those of the U.S. population as a whole (about 3.5 percent) and of U.S. veterans (12 percent to 30 percent).

The program has four prongs: outreach and engagement to reduce the stigma of mental health issues in the Cambodian community; workshops to educate community members about topics like mental and physical wellness, signs of mental illness and how to cope with stress; case management to provide referrals needed for health and social services; and social support activities, such as Cambodian New Year celebrations, temple visits, water blessings for healing and positive energy, and potlucks.

Sngiem, of United Cambodian Community of Long Beach, said she hopes the practices can be implemented in other Cambodian communities throughout the country.

“Our hope is that with the data we’re collecting that we can show evidence that these social activities are really important to the mental health work in the Cambodian community,” she said.

Read more on NBCNews.com.

Black youth in the U.S. experience more illness, poverty, and discrimination than their White counterparts. These issues put them at higher risk for depression and other mental health problems. Yet Black youth are less likely to seek treatment. About 9 percent of them reported an episode of major depression in the past year, but less than half of those — about 40 percent — received treatment. By comparison, about 46 percent of White youth who reported an episode were treated for depressive symptoms.

Instead, some turn to suicide, now the second leading cause of death among Black children ages 10 to 19. That rate is rising faster for them than any other racial or ethnic group. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the rate of suicide attempts for Black adolescents rose 73 percent from 1991 to 2017.

With schools nationwide grappling with how to offer instruction to students, principals and teachers need to be reminded that Black children have endured a distinctive kind of trauma since the pandemic began. They have had a different experience.

Studies suggest Black youth and their families may be less likely to identify their own mental health symptoms. If they do receive referrals for care, they may follow up less often than Whites. Delays in seeking care can lead to negative consequences, including emergency psychiatric hospitalizations and noncompliance with treatment recommendations. These youngsters may then become adults with mental health issues that remain unaddressed.

Parents and caregivers should encourage treatment. But interviews with them done as part of one study revealed they sometimes obstruct the process. Many feared their child would be labeled “crazy.” Those caregivers, sensitive to social stigma, also relied on others in the community when deciding to pursue treatment for their sons. Sometimes they would receive support from those they spoke with; other times, they would not.

Read more on WashingtonPost.com.

In order to highlight pockets of excellence across the country, the NNED selects a partner organization to highlight once a month. Alianza Para Una Comunidad Libre de Drogas has been selected as the Partner of the Month for September to honor National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Based on the Center for Prevention Services Latino Programs Department in North Carolina, Alianza is comprised of dedicated community members. They strive to create and sustain drug-free change by identifying community needs, serving as a resource, and providing leadership and capacity building opportunities for adults and youth. They focus on raising awareness of substance misuse concerns and implementing evidence-based strategies to reduce youth access to and misuse alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs. Their mission is to use environmental strategies, education, and community collaboration to create change and prevent substance use among Latino youth in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

Alianza also has partnerships with the local public school system Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Student Assistance Program Counselors to bring Familia Adelante to Mecklenburg County, NC.

The initiatives that Alianza is currently supporting and participating in:

• Alianza Youth
• Youth Drug Survey
• Preventing Underage Drinking
• Multi-Media Campaigns
• Building Community Capacity
• Community Conversations

Learn more about Alianza Para Una Comunidad Libre de Drogas and their vision to create a healthy, aware, and drug-free community for Latino youth.

View a list of previous NNED Partners of the Month.