SAMHSA.gov
The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration


SAMHSA Grant Annoucement RFA

Application Information
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)

Request for Applications (RFA)

Development of Comprehensive Drug/Alcohol and Mental Health Treatment Systems for Persons Who are Homeless
(Short Title:  Treatment for Homeless)

(Initial Announcement)

Policy Clarification Regarding Multiple Homelessness Applications. Click here to read

 

Request for Applications (RFA) No. TI-09-006
Posting on Grants.gov: February 24, 2009
Receipt date: April 30, 2009
Announcement Type: Initial

Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) No.: 93.243

Key Dates:

Application Deadline

Applications are due by April 30, 2009

Intergovernmental Review
(E.O. 12372)

Applicants must comply with E.O. 12372 if their State(s) participates.  Review process recommendations from the State Single Point of Contact (SPOC) are due no later than 60 days after application deadline.

Public Health System Impact Statement
(PHSIS)/SSA Coordination
Applicants must send the PHSIS to appropriate State and local health agencies by application deadline. Comments from Single State Agency are due no later than 60 days after application deadline.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2009 grants for the Development of Comprehensive Drug/Alcohol and Mental Health Treatment Systems for Persons Who are Homeless.  The purpose of this program is to expand and strengthen treatment services for persons who are homeless (including those who are chronically homeless), who also have substance use disorders, mental disorders, or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders.

To address the broad needs of this population, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment seeks to increase the number of homeless persons placed in stable housing and who receive treatment services for alcohol, substance use, and co-occurring disorders.  Funds are available for grants in two categories:  “General” and “Services in Supportive Housing.” SAMHSA/CSAT is targeting $4.5 million per year within the Treatment for Homeless Program for “Services in Supportive Housing” grants.  The remaining $6.8 million will be available for “General” Treatment for Homeless grants.
 
The primary goal is to link treatment services with housing programs and other services (e.g., primary care).  “Homeless” persons are those who lack a fixed, regular, adequate nighttime residence, including persons whose primary nighttime residence is: a supervised public or private shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations; a time-limited/nonpermanent transitional housing arrangement for individuals engaged in mental health and/or substance use disorder treatment; or a public or private facility not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation. “Homeless” also includes “doubled-up” – a residential status that places individuals at imminent risk for becoming homeless – defined as sharing another person’s dwelling on a temporary basis where continued tenancy is contingent upon the hospitality of the primary leaseholder or owner and can be rescinded at any time without notice. “Chronically Homeless” persons are defined as unaccompanied homeless individuals with a substance use disorder, mental disorder, or co-occurring substance use and mental disorder, who have either been continuously homeless for a year or more or have had at least four (4) episodes of homelessness in the past three (3) years.

Funds are available for grants in the two categories in FY 2009:

“General”
Under a “General” grant, funds may be used for services and populations of focus selected by the applicant based on local needs and resources. 

“Services in Supportive Housing”
Under this category, services must be provided using a supportive housing approach.  For the purpose of this program, supportive housing is defined as housing that is permanent, affordable and linked to health, mental health, employment and other support services that provide consumers with long-term, community-based housing options.  This housing approach combines housing assistance and intensive individualized support services to chronically homeless individuals with substance use disorders, mental disorders, or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders.  Research indicates that such a combination of long-term housing and wrap-around services leads to improved residential stability and reductions in substance use and psychiatric symptoms (Shern, et al., 1994).  Grantees may not use grant funds to pay for housing.  Therefore, applicants proposing to provide services in supportive housing must demonstrate the ability to place clients in supportive housing and must provide documentation of the source of funding for the housing component each year of the grant (See Section I-2.2-Program Requirements).

Legislative Preferences and SAMHSA Priority

In accordance with Section 506 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended, which establishes certain legislative preferences for this program, applications will be reviewed and evaluated, in part, on the extent to which applicants:

  • Provide integrated primary health, substance abuse, and mental health services to homeless individuals;

  • Demonstrate effectiveness in serving runaway, homeless, and street youth;

  • Have experience in providing substance abuse and mental health services to homeless individuals;

  • Demonstrate experience in providing housing for individuals in treatment for or in recovery from mental illness or substance abuse; and/or

  • Demonstrate effectiveness in serving homeless veterans.

Similarly, SAMHSA is interested in making awards to applicants that propose to expand and strengthen their treatment services for homeless, alcohol-dependent persons who have histories of public inebriation, frequent emergency room visits, arrests, mental disorders, or co-occurring substance use disorders and mental disorders.  The term “chronic public inebriates” has been used to define this population.

The Treatment for Homeless program is one of SAMHSA’s services grant programs.  SAMHSA’s services grants are designed to address gaps in substance abuse and mental health prevention and treatment services and/or to increase the ability of States, units of local government, American Indian/Alaska Native Tribes and tribal organizations, and community- and faith-based organizations to help specific populations or geographic areas with serious, emerging mental health and substance abuse problems.  SAMHSA intends that its services grants result in the delivery of services as soon as possible after award.  Service delivery should begin by the 4th month of the project at the latest.  

Treatment for Homeless grants are authorized under Section 506 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended.  This announcement addresses Healthy People 2010 focus area(s) 18 (Mental Health and Mental Disorders) and 26 (Substance Abuse).

Eligibility

Eligibility is restricted by statute to domestic community-based public and private nonprofit entities.  For example, county governments, city or township governments, federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native tribes and tribal organizations, urban Indian organizations, public or private universities and colleges; and community- and faith-based organizations may apply. Tribal organization means the recognized body of any AI/AN tribe; any legally established organization of American Indians/Alaska Natives which is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by such governing body or which is democratically elected by the adult members of the Indian community to be served by such organization and which includes the maximum participation of American Indians/Alaska Natives in all phases of its activities.  Consortia of tribal organizations are eligible to apply, but each participating entity must indicate its approval.  Under the statute, States and for-profit agencies are not eligible to apply.  Also, grantees from the FY 2005, 2006, and 2008 funding cohorts for the Treatment for Homeless program are not eligible to apply for this program.

Applicants for services in supportive housing awards that do not provide sufficient documentation in Appendix 6 of their applications to meet the requirements of Section I-2.2 will not be considered for funding to provide services in supportive housing and will be considered for funding as a general homeless program.

Award Information

Funding Mechanism: Grant
Anticipated Total Available Funding: $11.3 million
Anticipated Number of Awards:

Treatment for Homeless-General - Up to 20
Treatment for Homeless-Services in Supportive Housing - Up to 13

Anticipated Award Amount:

Up to $350,000 per year

Length of Project Period: Up to 5 years

Proposed budgets cannot exceed $350,000 in total costs (direct and indirect) in any year of the proposed project.  Annual continuation awards will depend on the availability of funds, grantee progress in meeting project goals and objectives, timely submission of required data and reports, and compliance with all terms and conditions of award.

Funding for this program is subject to the enactment of a final budget for FY 2009.  Funding estimates for this announcement are based on potential funding scenarios that reflect early Congressional action on the SAMHSA appropriation but do not reflect final conference action on the 2009 budget.  Applicants should be aware that SAMHSA cannot guarantee that sufficient funds will be appropriated to fully fund this program.

Policy Clarification Regarding Multiple Homelessness Applications. Click here to read

 

Contact Information

For questions on program issues, contact:

Bryant Goodine, MM/HRM
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
1 Choke Cherry Road
Room 5-1054
Rockville, Maryland 20857
(240) 276-2828
bryant.goodine@samhsa.hhs.gov

For questions on grants management issues, contact:

Kathleen Sample
Office of Program Services, Division of Grants Management          
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
1 Choke Cherry Road
Room 7-1089
Rockville, Maryland 20857
(240) 276-1407
kathleen.sample@samhsa.hhs.gov

Documents needed to complete a grant application:

Applications that are not submitted on the required application form will be screened out and will not be reviewed.

PHS 5161-1 (revised July 2000): Includes the face page, budget forms and checklist.

Additional Materials

For further information on the forms and the application process, see Useful Information for Applicants

Additional materials available on this website include:

 


Last Update: 3/27/2009