Tara Parra

Tara Parra is a Public Health Advisor in the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Prior to joining the SAMHSA Project LAUNCH team, Mrs. Parra worked for a federal contracting firm for six years. During that time she managed, logistics and meeting planning for many federal agencies including, the Department of Education, National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Mental Health, National Center for Research Resources and SAMHSA. In 2008, Mrs. Parra began working on-site at SAMHSA to support the development and sustainability of the Suicide Prevention initiatives, including the Garrett Lee Smith (GLS) Campus and State and Tribal Suicide Prevention grant programs, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Crisis Center—Follow-Up Grants, Native Aspirations, and the Veteran suicide prevention initiatives. Mrs. Parra provided on-site technical support and program analysis for these initiatives that provided funding to States, Tribes and college campuses for activities to reduce risk for youth suicide and raise awareness of suicide prevention. Mrs. Parra also facilitated the process by which SAMHSA ensured response to suicidal individuals who wrote the White House. In 2009, Mrs. Parra began working on the Project LAUNCH initiative, performing various analyses and management functions of the program to support the implementation of the goals and objectives of the program. She served on the Project LAUNCH contract staff for two years before transitioning to a Federal Government Project Officer. Mrs. Parra received her Bachelor’s of Arts from Goucher College in 2005, Baltimore, Maryland and is currently studying for her doctorate in clinical psychology at the American School of Professional Psychology, Argosy University, Washington DC. Mrs. Parra also works in an outpatient community based mental health facility serving the Medicaid population. She provides a myriad of mental health services including individual, family, couples, and group therapy as well as a full-range of psychiatric services and psychological testing.