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Grant supports rural mental health services

The Daily Inter Lake - 2/16/2017

Feb. 16--A Montana grief resource center is plugging a $50,000 grant into improving mental health support for children, their families and schools in the Flathead Valley.

Liz Manley, the development director of the Tamarack Grief Resource Center, said the funding will go toward underserved populations.

"People in rural areas are often unable to take advantage of grief support services, and in Montana, that accounts for a lot of people," Manley said. "A big part of the challenge is getting into the schools in the Flathead region and other rural areas in Western Montana."

The $50,000New York Life Foundation grant aims to support and expand culturally relevant grief programs in rural Montana. Manley said the center will divide the money between rural outreach, school partnerships and further development and stabilization of a grief resource center in Browning.

Tina Barrett, the center's executive director, said since opening the new office in Browning in August 2016, the grief center has served roughly 225 children and families with counseling and school-based activities.

"The support will help stabilize and strengthen many grieving children and their families in our community and beyond throughout the healing process," she said.

Manley said it's important that people don't feel isolated in their grief.

For decades, Montana's suicide rates have been nearly double that of the national average.

In 2014, Montana had the highest suicide rate in the nation with 251 deaths, according to 2015 statistics from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. That means roughly 23 Montanans per every 100,000 decided to end their lives. The national average is 13 suicides per 100,000.

Manley said that in response, local efforts have worked to fill in mental-health gaps around the state, often starting in schools.

"But there's still a great need," she said. "Many professionals -- in schools and out -- have reported feeling ill-prepared to manage grief with students, staff and coworkers following a death or tragic event."

According to the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, roughly 9 percent of Montana high school students attempted suicide in the 12 months before taking the survey. Between 2005 and 2014, suicide was the No. 2 cause of death for Montanans younger than 14, adolescents ages 15 to 24 and adults between 25 and 44 years old.

Manley said an increased effort to plug students into supportive services will help reduce those numbers, as well as create healthier communities across rural Montana.

"Beyond offering support after a tragic event, there's also a goal for proactive support, for staff and teachers, to feel prepared to be supportive to students," Manley said. "This funding will help us do that."

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.

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