Indian Health Service (IHS) Grant for National Urban Indian Behavioral Health Awareness and Capacity Building

The purpose of the National Urban Indian Behavioral Health Awareness (NUIBH) program is to increase the awareness, visibility, advocacy, and education for behavioral health issues on a national scale and in the interest of improving Urban Indian health care. The NUIBH program will build, strengthen, and sustain collaborative relationships that support Indian Health Service (IHS) efforts to ensure that comprehensive, culturally appropriate personal and public health services are available and accessible to American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people living in Urban Areas. The recipient will administer an annual national forum, such as a Behavioral Health Urban Indian Listening Session where concerns and suggestions related to behavioral health care policy, service delivery, and program development will be heard from all Urban Indian organizations (UIOs). The recipient will also administer programs intended to provide culturally competent education and technical assistance on strategic planning and grant writing to increase the behavioral health care capacity of UIOs, and the likelihood of success in receiving awards from various sources. The recipient will develop and maintain comprehensive information on UIOs, and disseminate information on behavioral health programs, best practices, service delivery, quality improvement, and strategies to all UIOs. The recipient will also develop a quality improvement process, including appropriate evaluation tools to ensure the information developed and disseminated through the project is appropriate and useful for addressing the behavioral health needs of Urban Indian communities. The recipient’s activities funded under this cooperative agreement must support all organizations that meet the statutory definition of a UIO.