Project Grant H79SM091614

The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded Start Corporation $500,000 on September 30, 2026, under the Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.532) to launch Louisiana's first Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) program serving children birth through age 12 across seven parishes in Louisiana Department of Health Region 3.

The program will screen thousands of children, deliver evidence-based mental health treatment, and provide consultation to caregivers over the five-year performance period (September 30, 2026 through September 29, 2031). The target population includes children at risk for, showing early signs of, or diagnosed with mental illness and serious emotional disturbance, with particular concentration in the birth-to-5 range; the population presents with trauma exposure, adverse childhood experiences, social-emotional and developmental delays, and extensive Department of Children and Family Services system involvement. Start Corporation projects serving approximately 680 unduplicated individuals in year 1, scaling to approximately 1,040 annually by year 5, for a total of approximately 4,520 unduplicated individuals over the performance period.

The catchment area encompasses seven parishes—Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Mary, and Terrebonne—with a combined population of approximately 380,000. Services are anchored at Start Corporation's clinics in Houma and Thibodaux, with telehealth and in-home service delivery extending reach region-wide. Place of performance is Houma, Louisiana.