Matrix: Mental Health System Transformation

Developing Infrastructure to Improve Availability and
Effectiveness of Mental Health Services

Mental Health Transformation State Incentive Grant Program

Pre-Application Technical Assistance

Questions and Answers from Conference Calls, May 5, 2005

1. What types of sample consent forms should we include in Appendix 3?

Since we’re not allowed to provide any direct services with the MHT SIG grant funds, what exactly would the consent forms be for?

The consent forms are part of the SAMHSA Confidentiality and Participant Protection requirements. This section of the application is not scored, but you do have to respond to it. The reviewers look over the section, and they can express concerns, make comments, or say it is fine. If they have comments, then the government project officer (GPO) works with the applicant to address those comments before an award can be made. If there are concerns, the application will still be scored, but the award can’t be made until those concerns are removed.  When you respond to the Participant Protection section, be sure to respond to every one of the bullets. If a bullet really does not apply to your project, say so, but also explain why you think it does not apply. Otherwise, reviewers might think you have not fully responded to the question, and they would mark it down as a comment or as a concern. One reason the participant protection section is required in all SAMHSA grant applications is that our programs often involve the participation of consumers. We want to make sure that, if consumers might be disclosing personal information, they understand any risks they might face by doing the disclosing. 

2. Is a cost of living allowance (COLA) permitted in the budgets for years two through five?

Yes. A COLA can be built into future year budgets using grant funds as long as the increase does not result in a budget that exceeds the limit of the award amount. You would have to decrease some budget items in order to have funds for the COLA’s if you took them out of grant funds. If you have funds from sources other than this grant program, you could use them to fund the COLAs

3. Is there a cap on COLAs for each year?

No, there is no cap. However, the increase must be reasonable, and the organization needs to make sure that it does not establish a separate policy regarding salary increases for the staff working on this grant project. The COLA must be based on an organizational written policy already in place for all personnel.

4. The RFA (page 11) lists seven types of GPRA indicators. In contrast to the others, indicator Number 6 seems to be a fairly narrow measure: “Did you increase the membership in statewide consumer and family run networks?” Wouldn’t data for this have to come from a fairly narrow strategy to specifically recruit more members for these groups.

Yes. This indicator is very specific. There are a number of statewide family and consumer network around the country, some of which are funded by SAMHSA/CMHS. Some states have strong consumer and family leaders, groups, and networks, but many do not. We want to see grantees making a concerted effort to develop the capacity of these individuals, groups, and networks

5. How would you measure the SAMHSA National Outcome Measure, “increase cost effectiveness?”

This measure is under development at this point. Just describe your state’s capacity ultimately to collect this kind of information. 

6. Can the funds be used for rental of space for a building or office space?

Yes. Grant funds cannot be used for housing, but they can be used to pay the rent for an office space for people working on the activities of the grant program.

7. The number of pages required to convey the information in a particular section of the program narrative does not seem to be consistent with the number of points assigned to that section. For example, Section A: Statement of Need is worth fifteen points, but it requires a lot of information. How should we address the issue of the number of pages and the number of points?

Whenever appropriate, you might use a table format to condense information and present it cogently. However, how well you explain the information requested in each section is ultimately far more important than the number of pages in each section.

8. Can we use grant funds to pilot innovative services as part of the transformation?

You can use grant funds for any part of piloting a program that comes under the allowable activities in the grant (see RFA, p. 10). For example, you could pay to train the people to do the program or to pay the evaluator of the program. However, you cannot use the grant funds to actually pay for the direct services provided by the program.

9. Are we supposed to calculate budgets for the future years and fill that in on 424.a? 

Yes, include your actual budget for year 1 and estimated budgets for years 2-5. Budget may vary within cost categories, but assume the total amount will remain the same each year. Items such as office equipment purchased in the first year will no doubt drop in future years, and you can reallocate those funds towards other activities when you write your continuation applications. 

10. If the Transformation Working Group chairperson’s assistant has not been hired, do we need a Letter of Commitment and a biographical sketch for the person we think we are going to hire?

It will strengthen your application if you know who you’re going to hire because the person’s letter of commitment and biographical sketch will help the reviewers with their evaluation. If you are not able to supply these, then be sure to include a clear and detailed job description which describes the scope of the person’s responsibilities and the traits you will look for in the person who will assume these responsibilities 

11. Should we get separate Letters of Commitment from the individual organizations on the Transformation Working Group, or should we have representatives of the organizations sign a master Memorandum of Understanding?

It does not matter. The advantage to having individual organizations write separate letters is that they can be very specific about the resources they intend to bring to the table and why they think transformation is so important. Of course, you may be able to do this in a master MOU as well. Use whatever you think will make the strongest case for the commitment and the support that various organizations on your transformation working will be providing.