Native American Programs                     Training Programs       Telehealth Activities       Research Efforts
Main Contact: Charlene Poola, LISW

Click here for: Native American Suicide Prevention Task Force

Training Programs

Native American Trainings
    Providing culturally competent care.
Lead Contact:         Charlene Poola, LISW
Funding Source:     Indian Health Services, ValueOptions, and Co-Occurring State Incentive Grant
Partners:                  Native American Behavioral Health Workgroup, Behavioral Health Services Division, Indian Health
                                    Service (IHS) and Value Options.
Goal:                          To provide culturally relevant training by teaching Traditional and Western approaches to clinical
                                    interventions. To create cultural awareness of the various tribes that exist in New Mexico so providers
                                    can provide culturally competent care and create a network of Native American consultants to assist
                                    providers in New Mexico.

Best Practices Project with Native American Communities
    What is working in community behavioral health services and what needs to be improved?
Lead Contact:         Charlene Poola, LISW
Funding Source:     Behavioral Health Services Division
Partners:                  Behavioral Health Services Division, Tewa Women United, and the Zia Pueblo.
Goal:                          To do focus groups with the serving population to address what is working in their community for
                                   behavioral health services and what needs to be improved.

Native American Behavioral Health Needs Assessment
    Determining current resources and additional needs in Native American communities.
Lead Contact:         Charlene Poola, LISW
Funding Source:     Partial past Behavioral Health Division Funds used
Goal:                          CRCBH did a needs assessment in 2006 with tribal behavioral health and IHS behavioral health
                                    departments to identify what current substance abuse, mental health, and prevention services are being
                                    provided; opinions and needs regarding implementation of evidence based practices; service, support,
                                    and training needs; current staffing patterns (including disciplines represented and available
                                    supervision); and availability of telehealth and computer technology. The goal was to determine current
                                    resources and additional needs in Native communities and to bring all behavioral health stakeholders
                                    to a meeting to discuss the findings and prioritize training needs.

Native American Community Academy (NACA)
    Creating a culturally informed behavioral health system of care.
Lead Contact:         Charlene Poola, LISW
Partners:                  University of New Mexico School Based Health Centers and NACA
Goal:                          To provide clinical services and support to the Behavioral Team at NACA to create a culturally informed
                                    behavioral health system of care with NACA students, faculty, and staff.

CADAC to LADAC informational training sessions
    Increasing workforce development in Native American communities
Lead Contact:        Charlene Poola, LISW
Partners:                 Behavioral Health Services Division, New Mexico Counseling & Therapy Practice Board,
                                  and Albuquerque Area Intertribal Council on Substance Abuse
Goal:                         To provide information to substance abuse providers about the CADAC to LADAC grandfathering clause
                                   that was effective July 2007 until June 30th, 2008. The informational session outlines steps on how to
                                   apply for a CADAC license and how to be “grandfathered” to receive a LADAC license before June 30th,
                                   2008 in order to increase workforce development in Native American communities.

Tribal Data Workgroup
    Collecting and disseminating data when working in Native American communities.
Lead Contact:         Charlene Poola, LISW
Partners:                 Nadine Tafoya & Associates, New Mexico Human Services Department, and
                                   New Mexico Behavioral Health Colllaborative.
Goal:                         To create a document that outlines protocol how to collect and disseminate data when working in Native
                                   American communities. The partners will meet with Native communities to draft a protocol document
                                   and receive feedback to make changes to the document and share it with the Behavioral Health
                                   Purchasing Collaborative and hopefully adopt the document as a policy with the tribe’s support and
                                   endorsement.


Telehealth Activities

Indian Health Services
    Providing weekly psychiatriac support to IHS service units.
Lead Contact        Steven Adelsheim, M.D.
Partners:                Indian Health Service (IHS) Albuquerque Area, New Mexico department of Health and New Mexico
                                  Behavioral Health Collaborative
Goal:                        This program provides weekly child, adolescent, adult and addictions psychiatry support to IHS service
                                  units and tribal behavioral health and substance abuse programs. Direct service, consultation,
                                  supervision and training, along with systems consultation are all components of this partnership.

Suicide Prevention
    Preventing, screening for, assessing, and treating suicidal behavior and related disorders.
Lead Contact:        Avron Kriechman, M.D.
Partner:                   Department of Health Office of School and Adolescent Health
Goal:                         To facilitate the collaborative efforts of health care providers, behavioral health care providers, and
                                  educators to prevent, screen for, assess, and treat suicidal behavior and related disorders in youth
                                  and their families and communities by telehealth trainings, consultations, and interdisciplinary
                                  patient/family/community/provider interviews.

Sangre de Cristo: Screening, Brief Intervention, and referral to treatment program (SBIRT)
    Supporting the screening, assessment, and brief treatment of substance abuse disorders by SBIRT
Lead Contact:        Avron Kriechman, M.D.
Partners:                SBIRT
Goal:                         To support the screening, assessment, and brief treatment of substance use disorders by SBIRT
                                  providers through multi-site telehealth trainings, consultations and patient/family/community/provider
                                  interviews.

Project ECHO
    Consulting with and training primary care providers.
Lead Contact:        Avron Kriechman, M.D.
Partners:                Project Echo
Goal:                        To Provide child/adolescent, general, and addiction psychiatry consultation and training to primary care
                                  providers, and to provide group supervision and co-consultation for psychoanalytic psychotherapy via
                                  telepsychiatry.


Research Efforts

Pueblo of San Felipe Children’s Mental Health Systems Development Project
    Increasing access to mental health care.
Principle Investigator:     Kristen Orestevich Ph.D.
Lead Contact:                   Deborah Altschul, Ph.D.
Funding Source:               SAHMSA
Goal:                                    To increase access to mental health care by removing barriers, optimizing mental health and
                                              substance abuse services for children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances
                                              (SED), insuring culturally appropriate care, and developing a seamless delivery system with other
                                              providers using SOC model. The CRCBH will conduct a needs assessment of current services,
                                              and lead the project evaluation.

Strengthening Native Families
    Evaluating the behavioral health services in Santa Clara Pueblo.
Principal Investigator:     Lt. Governor Stanley Tafoya
Lead Contact:                    Deborah Altschul, Ph.D.
Funding Source:               SAMHSA
Goal:                                    To evaluate the implementation of an expansion and enhancement of the behavioral health
                                              services in Santa Clara Pueblo through the development of a mobile team to deliver alcohol and
                                              substance abuse treatment and a home-based family therapy program using Functional Family
                                              Therapy.

Total community Approach
    Planning, designing, implementing and evaluating substance abuse programs.
Principal Investigator:     Steven Adelsheim, M.D.
Funding Source:                State of New Mexico, Department of Health and Human Services, Value Options
Goal:                                     The Total Community Approach seeks to involve all key local stakeholders
                                              (e.g., consumers, families providers, law enforcement, DWI Councils, courts, probation and
                                              parole, schools, faith based organizations, minority consumer and provider groups etc.) in the
                                              planning, design, implementation and evaluation of substance abuse programs. New Mexico
                                              CBHTER (Center for Behavioral Health Training Evaluation and Research), a statewide
                                              collaborative effort to enhance partnerships and information sharing among New Mexico
                                              institutions of higher learning, is providing the evaluation component of the TCA program.

Project TRUST
    Guidelines for culturally-appropriate, client-centered approaches to behavioral health.
Principle Investigator:     Jessica Goodkind, Ph.D.
Lead Contact:                    Ernest Coletta, BS
Funding Source:                New Mexico Department of Health, Office of School and Adolescent Health
Goal:                                     To develop and share a model/guidelines for culturally-appropriate, client-centered approaches to
                                              behavioral health care for Native American youth and their families.