Project Grant H79FG001433

The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health, Inc. $1.5 million on September 30, 2026, under the 988 and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Programs (CFDA 93.00R) to expand culturally grounded crisis care and improve access to 988 services for American Indian and Alaska Native populations across California.

The recipient leads the statewide California 988 Tribal Response Task Force, a partnership encompassing all eleven 988 call centers, thirty-five tribal and urban Indian health organizations, and federal and state agencies. The project serves American Indian and Alaska Native people across fifty-eight California counties spanning Southern, Central, and Northern regions, including Riverside, San Bernardino, Del Norte, Humboldt, Butte, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Diego, and Alameda counties. This geographic scope encompasses 1.4 million American Indian and Alaska Native residents and 109 federally recognized tribes, reaching populations in remote rural regions and dense urban centers.

Deliverables include establishing and maintaining the project team and formal collaborations; developing a system to collect and report on tribal members' 988 utilization, service outcomes, referral connections, and follow-up; delivering culturally responsive training; strengthening crisis response and referral connections; increasing awareness and utilization of 988; and unifying culturally responsive training, communication, and coordinated crisis pathways. Several project components—including the culturally responsive training plan, the HSQ 7 pilot, and digital communication materials—are designed for adaptation and replication nationwide to support American Indian and Alaska Native crisis response efforts.

Performance runs from September 30, 2026, through September 29, 2029, with place of performance in Grand Terrace, California.