Texas Georgia Colorado Illinois Missouri Pennsylvania Wisconsin Receive Over $19 Million for Hurricane Katrina Crisis Counseling Aid

Outreach workers have been distributed across Illinois to work with
individuals and families to link them to appropriate services. LOUIS ----When Pattonville High School suffered the tragic death of one of
its students in 2003, the school 's students struggled to cope., Magellan Health Services, Inc. Surveys and follow-
up studies with parents show counseling to be the most common and popular form
of help sought for teens participating in the program. There are 18 TeenScreen sites in New York and
they are located in such varied communities as New York City, Westchester
County and Orange County.

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To assist with the
unique crisis counseling needs of this unusually large number of displaced
individuals spread over 250 of the state's 254 counties, Texas was approved
for up to $12,127,752 to continue outreach and support services. Krebs , who works with high-risk students to help them
develop self-esteem and self-help strategies, emphasized that "we want
them to have the ability to overcome any obstacle that may be thrown
their way, and with our extensive background and experience in
behavioral health, we can help them develop the skills to do that.

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David Paulison, Acting FEMA
Director. Its customers include health plans, corporations and
government agencies.

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A statewide network of outreach teams will work with individuals
and groups to develop a comprehensive support system for evacuees. The
state plans to work with evacuees in a culturally sensitive manner to provide
outreach services. Wisconsin has been approved for a total of $433,099.
Counselors and faculty members are working this year to drive
under-performing students onto the path of success by learning how to
develop effective ways of communicating with the parents of those
students.
Magellan recently conducted a faculty education workshop at the
Ritenour ReEntry Center, a school for students who are on long-term
suspension. The workshop focused on a stress management program based
on a newly developed stress seminar created for Magellan's clients .
In addition to OMH, TeenScreen has been endorsed by the President's New
Freedom Commission on Mental Health and more than 30 national health,
education and social service groups.

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These awards bring the total amount awarded for these "Regular Services"
crisis counseling grants to over $41.
"I am genuinely heartbroken over the trauma that the victims of Hurricanes
Katrina, Rita , and Wilma have suffered," said R.

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However, for some survivors the psychological impact
of their experiences is potentially both serious and long lasting. Georgia
has been approved for up to $3 ,238,757. Illinois has been approved for
$643,104 in FEMA Crisis Counseling Program funds.

Magellan Health Services Program Promotes Success in School

TeenScreen
requires parental consent and teen assent.

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This is the second set of grants that were ready of approximately 20
grants to be awarded in this round to enable states to address ongoing
counseling needs of persons adversely affected by the hurricanes, regardless
of whether they are residing in their home states or are resettling in other
areas.
Missouri's Lighthouse Project will offer the full range of crisis
counseling services to hurricane evacuees through outreach efforts, including
a statewide telephone crisis hotline and community education services.

In the past,
Magellan staff, school administrators and crisis counselors also
focused on grief counseling, placing a special emphasis on dealing
with peer pressure.

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Emphasis will be placed on working with local community providers and
establishing relationships with groups serving evacuees throughout the state.
Missouri has been approved for a total of $545,086.

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WASHINGTON, Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA) Administrator Charles Curie today announced
the award of $19.2 million to Texas, Georgia , Illinois, Pennsylvania,
Wisconsin, Missouri and Colorado for crisis counseling assistance in the
aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. When combined with the early
round of "Immediate Services" crisis counseling grants, over $66 million in
federal crisis counseling support has been made available to states to date. "The federal partnership between the Department of Homeland
Security 's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and SAMHSA demonstrates
the administration's continued commitment to providing resources to assist
these hurricane victims in every way possible. Colorado has been approved for up to
$1,167,078. Pennsylvania has been
approved for up to $1,103,070.

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"Most survivors are demonstrating remarkable resiliency and are
rebuilding theirs lives .
OMH considers mental health screening, particularly TeenScreen, vital for
identifying those who are silently suffering from mental health disorders that
may put them at risk for suicide.
TeenScreen is a scientifically tested, voluntary, computer or pencil-and-
paper questionnaire , developed by the Division of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry at Columbia University. It has been shown to be an effective way
of finding youth with mental health disorders unknown to adults.

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8 million within weeks of the hurricanes.
Fortunately, the high school responded by enlisting the help of
Magellan Health Services, the nation's leading manager of behavioral
health services, to give the teens and counselors the support they
needed to work through their grief. If a teen is found to be at
possible risk, information is shared with parents and the program assists in
connecting them to mental health resources and services.

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Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

FARMINGTON, Conn. As a result of
the student's death, the 2003-2004 campaign, titled "Be Resilient,
Overcome and Succeed !," taught these teenagers how to cope during
difficult times so that they have the confidence they need to make
responsible decisions. The help that Magellan provided to Pattonville
during that difficult time cemented Magellan's relationship with the
school, and that focus on resiliency and success is reflected in this
year's program.
Krebs and several other Magellan senior clinical staff members in
St. "It
is our sincere hope that these suggestions will be adopted by all counties in
New York and that screening becomes a routine part of adolescent health care,"
said Flynn.

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These grants are awarded
through a longstanding and highly successful partnership between SAMHSA and
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). + ST.
"Magellan has the expertise to help these kids cope with a variety
of situations in a way that few others can match," said Frank Krebs ,
Magellan's director of customer training, who is involved with
Pattonville High School, a campus serving 2,000 students in Maryland
Heights, Mo.

A workshop focusing on school violence and bullying for senior
and junior mentors who are part of the school's PALs mentoring
program. TeenScreen also includes information about provider referrals for teens
that need services , a key strategy encouraged by the state.
"Screening is crucial to catching young people before they fall," said
Laurie Flynn, Director of the Carmel Hill Center at Columbia University.

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(Nasdaq:MGLN ) is the country's leading managed behavioral health care
organization. The
recommendation is contained in the state's new suicide prevention plan, Saving
Lives in New York: Suicide Prevention and Public Health.

ivrs sobs

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Twenty-nine states received Immediate Services Program grants totaling
$25.
Colorado 's crisis counseling program, the "Colorado Hurricane Evacuee
Support and Recovery Project" (CHESRP ), provides individual and group
educational and counseling services to hurricane evacuees through outreach
teams deployed across the state. "The current campaign reinforces
the important role that parents and school staff play in the outcome
of children's education," he said. NEW YORK , The New York State Office of Mental
Health (OMH) recommends that local communities conduct voluntary teen mental
health screenings, and specifically encourages use of the Columbia University
TeenScreen Program, as part of the state's suicide prevention efforts.

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More grants will be awarded in coming weeks.
Texas has been hosting hundreds of thousands of evacuees from Louisiana
and Mississippi who began arriving there 48 hours prior to Katrina's landfall
and continued to pour into the state for weeks after.
Georgia will provide crisis counseling services to hurricane evacuees
scattered throughout Georgia to assist them in adjusting to their new
communities and coping with the losses , fears, and anxieties related to their
situations.
Counselors and faculty also are participating in presentations and
workshops on resiliency and mental health issues.

"We are committed to helping these kids succeed in school on both
a scholastic and social level so that they'll be able to achieve their
goals in the future," noted Krebs.

New York State Recommends Use of TeenScreen Mental Health Check-Ups to Prevent Teen Suicide

Each year New York
loses over 1,300 lives to suicide .

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"The impact of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma is unprecedented,"
Curie said.
Project Hope in Wisconsin is a community-based disaster recovery program
addressing the crisis counseling needs of individual evacuees and families who
have experienced loss of their homes, workplaces, and support networks.
Headquartered in Farmington, Conn.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

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Services supported through both the Immediate and the Regular
Service programs include outreach, brief counseling, support groups, and
public education. This
program will be implemented in the fall of 2005.

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2 million. These workers
are also assisting relocated evacuees to help them determine how they will
return to their home states if they so desire.
The "Pennsylvania Responds" crisis counseling program will provide
education and outreach to several thousand adults and children relocated
primarily to the communities of Philadelphia and Allegheny County and will
collaborate with other state providers to ensure the needs of all Katrina
evacuees who remain in the state are addressed. The agency is responsible for improving the accountability,
capacity and effectiveness of the nation's substance abuse prevention,
addictions treatment, and mental health service delivery system. The faculty hopes to enhance its partnership with parents by
guiding them to the resources they need to help their children.

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"
Magellan's involvement with Pattonville builds on a successful
communication and outreach partnership cultivated over the last three
years to help students build confidence and succeed. Louis have been instrumental in developing and directing the
presentations geared toward students holding leadership roles at the
school. Depression, the leading cause of teen
suicide, often has no visible warning signs for parents or teachers and
screening is recognized as a highly effective method to find young people in
need.

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These new Regular Service
Program grants will support services for up to nine months of additional
assistance .

SAMHSA is a public health agency within the U. The workshop will include bullying identification and
positive intervention strategies.
The TeenScreen Program provides consultation , training, screening tools,
software and technical assistance free of charge to schools and communities
who want to implement their own voluntary mental health screening programs.

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These new
grants are part of a broader federal effort to assure that emotional and
psychological well-being are addressed in the overall recovery process. This outreach will include mobile services in which trained workers
go to the places where disaster survivors are congregating, such as shelters,
disaster recovery centers, or temporary hotels, and provide supportive
contacts, educational materials and brief counseling services.S.

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States will receive a portion of the funds initially, with the
remaining approved funds released as service needs continue."
The awards announced today are part of an ongoing crisis counseling
effort. Department of Health and
Human Services.
Two additional initiatives that Magellan is working on with the school
are:

Communication strategies to enhance Pattonville 's freshman
watch program, in which the school faculty reaches out to
parents when a freshman's grades drop below average. Each of the past three campaigns featured student leadership
presentations, student forums, a faculty education series and support
materials, all designed to address issues related to teenagers'
ability to be resilient and overcome tough times. The company specializes in managed mental health and
substance abuse services as well as employee assistance /work-life
programs.

survivors samaritans

"
The crisis counseling program will hire and train people locally to
provide outreach to survivors of the hurricanes who need mental health
services. Suicide is the third leading cause of
death for young people and is deemed a public health crisis by the U.
The program , currently used in 43 states, is funded by private family
foundations and individual contributions , and does not receive any support
from pharmaceutical companies.