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Funding Opportunities

In December 2020, the federal government appropriated more than $16.7 million in funding to be used for projects like Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) in FY2021. Grant applications are now available and are due February 5, 2021!

The Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT) grants will help expand MHFA to more schools, first responders, veterans and other communities, so that more people will be able to identify understand and respond when someone is experiencing a mental health crisis.

To apply you must complete all four registration processes by February 5:

  1. Obtain a DUNS number by accessing the Dun and Bradstreet website
  2. Register with the System for Awards Management
  3. Register with Grants.gov
  4. Register with NIH’s eRA Commons (Please note that the eRA Commons process may take up to six weeks. If you have not already done so, be sure to complete the registration process immediately.)

Grant Details

Mental Health Awareness Training Grants

Due: Friday, February 5, 2021

Funding:

  • More than $17.7 million available for FY2021.
  • Up to $125,000 per year for up to five years.
  • Awarded to as many as 141 domestic public and private nonprofit entities.

Purpose:

  • Train individuals (e.g., school personnel, emergency first responders, law enforcement, veterans, armed services members and their families) to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental disorders, particularly serious mental illness (SMI) and/or serious emotional disturbances (SED).
  • Establish linkages with school- and/or community-based mental health agencies to refer individuals with the signs or symptoms of mental illness to appropriate services.
  • Train emergency services personnel, law enforcement, fire department personnel, veterans, and others to identify persons with a mental disorder and employ crisis de-escalation techniques.
  • Educate individuals about resources that are available in the community for individuals with a mental disorder. It is expected that this program will prepare and train others on how to appropriately and safely respond to individuals with mental disorders, particularly individuals with SMI and/or SED.

More information:

 

Use this toolkit to help you complete your MHAT grant application.

 

Please direct any questions related to Mental Health First Aid to National Council at MHFA_SAMHSA@thenationalcouncil.org.

Please direct any other questions related to the funding opportunity announcement to SAMHSA, as instructed here https://www.samhsa.gov/grants/grant-announcements/SM-21-007].

General Proposal Resources

Mental Health First Aid USA is managed and operated by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and the Missouri Department of Mental Health. The foundation of the curriculum was built on the evidence-based Mental Health First Aid training and research program in Australia. The Australian program was developed using the consensus of international expert panels involving mental health consumers, caregivers and professionals.

Webinars

Identifying Opportunities: Mental Health First Aid & The Mental Health Awareness Training Grants

Watch the recording of this webinar and review the slides, where we discussed:

  • An overview of Mental Health First Aid.
  • Using Mental Health First Aid in your funding opportunity application.
  • Mental Health First Aid training implementation options.
  • Other curricula formats available for adults that work with youth, teens, first responders, older adults, higher education, veterans, and Spanish-speaking communities.

Funding Resources

There are several national local, state, federal or philanthropic resources with grant opportunities that may be appropriate for supporting Mental Health First Aid efforts.

Data Sources for Needs Assessments

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Data and Benchmarks
https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/cha/data.html

Community Health Assessments and Health Improvement Plans
https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/cha/plan.html

Community Commons
Community Health Needs Assessments
https://www.communitycommons.org/collections/Community-Health-Needs-Assessments

General Funding Search and Proposal Structure

Grants.gov
Sign up for alerts for federal opportunities
https://www.grants.gov/

The Community Tool Box: 14. Writing a Grant Application for Funding
University of Kansas
http://ctb.ku.edu/en/writing-grant-application

General Proposal Guidance
University of North Carolina Writing Center
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/grant-proposals-or-give-me-the-money/

Foundation Directory Online
The Foundation Center
https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/

Additional Resources

In addition to the information outlined on this website, the following one-page descriptions are available for download.

  • Mental Health First Aid training has taught the officer to ask his charges, “What happened?” instead of, “What’s wrong with you?”” –Officer Orlando Singleton
  • So many people are out there wishing for something better, hoping that help will show up. That’s what Mental Health First Aid is – it is help to get people connected to care and ultimately to get them to a better place.” –Tousha Paxton-Barnes, U.S. Army Veteran
  • I wish that every corrections officer could receive Mental Health First Aid training. I believe that our corrections system would be better because of it – the inmates would benefit, the officers would benefit and ultimately our communities would benefit.” –Lt. Virgil Meyer, Lieutenant, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
  • As adults, we sometimes forget how hard it was being an adolescent. When we see a kid who is just miserable at school, we might think they choose to be that way – or that it’s just part of adolescence. But in fact, they might be in a mental health crisis, one they certainly did not choose and do not want. When a teacher says “how can I be helpful,” that is a powerful question. ” –Alyssa Fruchtenicht, School-Based Mental Health Counselor
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