ASU center named 2010 SAMHSA Science and Service Award Recipient

The Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy in the College of Public Programs recently received the U.S. Department of Health Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Science and Service Award.  

The Center was acknowledged in association with the Old Pueblo Community Services, a nonprofit agency providing low-income permanent housing, transitional housing and substance abuse treatment to homeless ex-offenders.   

As a result of a Federal grant that the Center wrote, Old Pueblo Community Services has expanded their service capacity by 300%, and, with the technical assistance provided by the Center, implemented evidence supported treatments including Motivational Interviewing and Community Reinforcement.

During the course of a five-year partnership, nearly 600 homeless ex-offenders were housed and received state-of-the-art treatment, resulting in significant increases in employment, income and housing stability with concomitant reductions in drug and alcohol abuse and criminal recidivism. 

SAMHSA Administrator, Pamela S. Hyde, in recognizing the Center and Old Pueblo and the other Science and Service Award recipients says, “Families and individuals deserve the most effective services possible for the prevention and treatment of health conditions, including mental health and substance use disorders.  These award winners deserve to be commended for blazing new trails in providing cutting-edge services in their communities.”   

To learn more about the SAMHSA Science and Service Awards, visit http://www.samhsa.gov/scienceandservice/.