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The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration


SAMHSA Grant Annoucement RFA

Application Information
Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)

Request for Applications (RFA)

Cooperative Agreements for State/Community Partnerships to Integrate Services and Supports for Youth and Young Adults 16-25 with Serious Mental Health Conditions And Their Families

Short Title:  Healthy Transitions Initiative

(Initial Announcement)

 

Request for Applications (RFA) No. SM-09-008
Posting on Grants.gov: March 27, 2009
Receipt date: May 20, 2009
Announcement Type: Initial

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

Key Dates:

Application Deadline

Applications are due by May 20, 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)
/Single State Agency 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 Mental Health Services, is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2009 for Cooperative Agreements for State/Community Partnerships to Integrate Services and Supports for Youth and Young Adults 16-25 with Serious Mental Health Conditions, and Their Families (Healthy Transitions Initiative).  Young people with serious mental health conditions, particularly those involved with the public mental health system, often face a more difficult transition to adulthood and the successful assumption of adult roles and responsibilities compared to their peers with or without other disabilities. The  Healthy Transitions Initiative will create developmentally-appropriate and effective youth-guided local systems of care to improve outcomes for youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions in areas such as education, employment, housing, mental health and co-occurring disorders, and decrease contacts with the juvenile and criminal justice system.  These local systems will be linked and integrated at the State/tribal/territorial levels in order to effect policy change and replication Statewide.

Failure to adequately address the system and service needs of these emerging adults has resulted in an increase in the prevalence of secondary school dropout, under- and unemployment, contacts with the juvenile or criminal justice system, early and unplanned pregnancy, and homelessness. In addition, the risk of poor outcomes in emerging adults with a serious emotional disturbance (SED) or serious mental illness (SMI) is exacerbated by higher rates of co-occurring substance use disorders among the transition age youth population than among any other age group with serious mental health challenges.
 
The unique service needs of these young adults extend beyond those of children and younger adolescents, and they differ from those of adults. While these youth have ongoing needs for clinical services, they also have significant needs for support services that facilitate independent living and the ability to make wise choices as young adults. Youth who age out of child-serving systems may have difficulty obtaining services in adult systems.  They often encounter a reduction or elimination of services when services available to children and adolescents are no longer accessible to them. Support services that assist youth with independent living address needs for housing, employment, education, basic living skills, and social support. Relationships established with trusted providers may be lost when providers specializing in services for children and youth can no longer be used. While these types of services may be available through various organizations in a community, they are generally not available in a coordinated manner. Systems of care that provide this type of coordination are an important and essential source of support for the service needs of these emerging adults. To ensure that systems of care are youth-guided and support youth transition to adulthood, partners from family, youth, and adult consumer organizations or stakeholders must be included in the development of coordinated, quality services and systems of care.

The Healthy Transitions Initiative will award cooperative agreements to States, Tribes and tribal organizations.  (For the purpose of this RFA, use of the word “State(s)” throughout this announcement includes the Territories listed in Section III-1, Eligible Applicants.) Applicants are expected to select a locality in which to implement a comprehensive service delivery program that includes a strategic plan for promoting the successful transition to adulthood for youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions.  In addition, successful applicants will be expected to develop policies, financial mechanisms and other reforms to improve the integration, efficiency and sustainability of these newly integrated systems of care. The population of focus includes youth and young adults ages 16-25 with a serious emotional disturbance or a serious mental illness. (See Appendix G for definitions of “serious emotional disturbance” and “serious mental illness.”)

The Healthy Transitions Initiative is one of SAMHSA’s services grant programs.  SAMHSA’s services grants are designed to address gaps in mental health services and to increase the ability of States, Territories, and American Indian/Alaska Native Tribes and tribal organizations to help specific populations or geographic areas with existing and emerging serious mental health conditions.  SAMHSA intends that its services grants result in the delivery of services and collection of baseline data by the 6th month of the project at the latest.  

The Healthy Transition Initiative cooperative agreements are authorized under Section 520A of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–32).  This announcement addresses Healthy People 2010 focus area 18 (Mental Health and Mental Disorders).

Eligibility

Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are State governments and federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Tribes and Tribal organizations. Governments of the following Territories are also eligible to apply: Palau, Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa.  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.

Eligibility is limited to States/Tribes/Territories because local systems of care must be linked and integrated at the State/Tribal/Territory level in order to effect policy change and replication Statewide.

Award Information

Funding Mechanism:

Cooperative Agreement

Anticipated Total Available Funding: $3.360 million
Anticipated Number of Awards: 7
Anticipated Award Amount:

Up to $480,000 per year

Length of Project Period:

Up to 5 years

Proposed budgets cannot exceed $480,000 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.

Contact Information

For questions on program issues, contact:

Diane L. Sondheimer
Child, Adolescent, and Family Branch
Center for Mental Health Services
1 Choke Cherry Road   Room 6-1043
Rockville, Maryland  20857
(240) 276-1922 Phone
(240) 276-1930 FAX
diane.sondheimer@samhsa.hhs.gov

Mary M. Blake
Community Support Program Branch
Center for Mental Health Services
1 Choke Cherry Road
Room 6-1009
Rockville, MD 20857
(240) 276-1747 Phone
(240) 276-1970 FAX
mary.blake@samhsa.hhs.gov

For questions on grants management issues, contact:

Gwendolyn Simpson
Office of Program Services, Division of Grants Management     
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
1 Choke Cherry Road
Room 7-1085
Rockville, Maryland 20857
(240) 276-1408
gwendolyn.simpson@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.

You must respond to the requirements in the RFA in preparing your application.

PHS 5161-1 (revised July 2000): Includes the face page, budget forms and checklist. Applications that are not submitted on the required application form will be screened out and will not be reviewed.

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