TUCSON, Ariz. — The University of Arizona just got nearly $4 million to expand its mental health, education, and healthcare services for queer youth in southern Arizona.
The money will be split between two programs of the university's Southwest Institute for Research on Women. One of those, the Spectrum+ program, will build upon and refresh the institute's previous Spectrum program.
Spectrum+ provides sexual health education, HIV and hepatitis testing and HIV prevention navigation for young adults in the LGBTQ+ community. It also helps connect people to mental health services and treatment. A $2.5 million grant was given to fund the program for the next five years.
"If these projects can help create public spaces and environments where people just feel safer existing and being themselves, that would be huge," SIROW associate research social scientist Courtney Waters said.
The new Family Pride Initiative provides mental health services for LGBTQ+ youth and helps parents, counselors and others learn how to provide the best standard of care. As part of the initiative, the university will be expanding its outreach to raise awareness of the needs of LGBTQ+ youth, Waters explained.
"We're going to have a decent amount of funding set aside to do bus ads, billboards, more public-facing information sharing about the importance of accepting practices and the harms and dangers of rejection for LGBTQ youth," Waters explained.
The three-year initiative was given a grant of $1.2 million.
The Spectrum+ program is already active and helping to provide education and healthcare to those in need. Waters says that it will be another month before the Family Pride Initiative rolls out.
Both of these grants came from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It's the first time that the administration has released money specifically for the LGBTQ+ community. UArizona was one of four organizations selected to head the new programs.
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