The state will use a $14.2 million five-year federal grant to implement a plan to organize and coordinate services to Hawai'i's mentally ill children and adults, Gov. Linda Lingle announced yesterday.

Lingle said Hawai'i was only one of two states to be awarded a grant this year from the Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration.

She called the grant a "great milestone," the first time the state has received money aimed at "transforming" the delivery of mental health services.

The announcement comes at a time when the federal court's oversight over the state community mental health plan is coming to a close. The plan was to provide services for an estimated 11,000 seriously mentally ill adult Hawai'i residents.

The state did not meet a June 30 deadline to be in substantial compliance, according to the latest report by a federal magistrate judge, but both state and Justice Department attorneys agreed that the federal oversight would be lifted Nov. 30.

Health Director Chiyome Fukino yesterday said the grant will help the state achieve compliance.

State officials, though, noted that the new plan would be broader and would also cover children with mental illnesses and others who didn't fall under the community plan.

Currently, the Department of Health spends about $182 million a year for mental health services for adults and children, state officials said. But other state agencies — such as the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Human Services — also spend millions of dollars for the mentally ill.

"This grant is going to transform how we help people with mental illnesses and how we help their families and how we help society deal with these issues," Lingle said.

Lingle said she will convene the Governor's Mental Health Transformation Working Group to develop and implement the Statewide Comprehensive Mental Health Plan. The plan would not only coordinate and organize services, but also come up with a way to measure achievements and make sure state money for mental health services are well spent, Lingle said.

The group will include senior officials from departments and agencies that serve the mentally ill and their families; mental health advocates; health insurance representatives, and others who provide mental health services.

The Department of Health was notified on Sept. 27 that it was awarded the grant.

Lingle made the announcement yesterday, and proclaimed Oct. 1-7 as Mental Illness Awareness Week and yesterday as Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day.

In 1990, Congress established the first week in October to recognize the efforts by the National Alliance on Mental Illness to combat mental illness, she noted. Bipolar disorders affect some 2.3 million Americans, but when treated, those individuals can still lead full and productive lives, she said.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.