Skip to main menu Skip to content
expand menu collapse menu
Login Store Subscribe Facebook Instagram
Home Funding Opportunities

Funding Opportunities

As federal grant opportunities for projects like Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) are announced, we will share details here.

Current Funding Opportunities

SAMHSA

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has recently announced several funding opportunities, totaling almost $50 million, with fast-approaching deadlines. These opportunities will help eligible organizations expand Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) to more schools, first responders, veterans and other communities, ensuring that more people have the tools they need to offer support when someone is experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge.

Learn More:

 

Grant Opportunities

I. SAMHSA Project AWARE Grants

Due: Friday, April 28, 2023

SAMHSA Project AWARE Grants aim to develop a sustainable infrastructure for school-based mental health programs and services, such as Youth MHFA and teen MHFA. Award recipients will leverage their partnerships with state, local, tribal and community organizations to implement mental health-related promotion, awareness, prevention, intervention and resilience activities to ensure that school-aged youth have access and are connected to appropriate and effective behavioral health services.

Funding:

  • Anticipated Total Available Funding: $38,129,774
  • Anticipated Number of Awards: 21
  • Anticipated Award Amount: Up to $1.8 million per year for up to five years

Eligibility:

Eligible applicants are states and territories, including the District of Columbia, political subdivisions of states (e.g., counties, Indian tribes, or tribal organizations (as such terms are defined in Section 5304 of Title 25), health facilities or programs operated by or in accordance with a contract or award with the Indian Health Service or other public or private non-profit entities.

How to Apply:

If you plan to submit an application, be sure to complete all four registrations: 1) DUNS 2) System for Awards Management 3) Grants.gov, and 4) 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.

More Information:

 

II. SAMHSA Mental Health Awareness Training Grants

Due: Monday, May 1, 2023

  • The Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT) grants aim to train more schools, emergency services personnel, veterans and other communities on how to respond when someone is experiencing a mental health challenge. By increasing access to programs like MHFA, these grants will help build secure, safe and healthy communities.
  • Purpose:
  • Train individuals (e.g., school personnel and emergency services personnel, including fire department and law enforcement personnel, veterans, armed services members and their families) to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health challenges and how to safely de-escalate crisis situations involving individuals with a mental illness.
  • Provide education on resources available in the community for individuals with a mental illness; provide education on other relevant resources, including how to establish linkages with school and/or community-based mental health agencies.

Funding:

  • Anticipated Total Available Funding: $4,412,361
  • Anticipated Number of Awards: 22
  • Anticipated Award Amount: Up to $200,000 per year for up to three years

Eligibility:

Eligible applicants are states and territories, including the District of Columbia, political subdivisions of states, Indian tribes or tribal organizations (as such terms are defined in Section 5304 of Title 25) and non-profit private entities.

How to Apply:

If you plan to submit an application, be sure to complete all four registrations: 1) DUNS 2) System for Awards Management 3) Grants.gov, and 4) 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.

More Information:

 

III. Cooperative Agreements for School-based Trauma-informed Support Services and Mental Health Care for Children and Youth

Due: Monday, May 8, 2023

Cooperative Agreements for School-based Trauma-informed Support Services and Mental Health Care for Children and Youth (TISS) program aims to enhance and improve trauma-informed support and mental health services for children and youth by increasing student access to evidence-based programs like Mental Health First Aid and linking local school systems with local trauma-informed support and mental health systems.

Funding:

  • Anticipated Total Available Funding: $4,616,823
  • Anticipated Number of Awards: 5
  • Anticipated Award Amount: Up to $970,000 per year for up to four years

Eligibility:

Eligibility is statutorily limited to state education agencies, local educational agencies, and Indian tribes (as defined in Section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act) or their Tribal Educational Agencies, a school operated by the Bureau of Indian Education, a Regional Corporation, or a Native Hawaiian Educational Organization.

How to Apply:

If you plan to submit an application, be sure to complete all four registrations: 1) DUNS 2) System for Awards Management 3) Grants.gov, and 4) 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.

More Information:

 

Other Grant Opportunities

Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA) Program

Deadline — Two-step process

  1. Submit an SF-424 and an SF-LLL in gov by Friday, April 14, 2023
  2. Submit the full application to JustGrants by Friday April 21, 2023

Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA) program funds are used to improve the delivery of and access to mental health and wellness services for law enforcement through the implementation of peer support, training, family resources, suicide prevention and other promising practices for wellness programs, such as Mental Health First Aid. The LEMHWA program will fund projects that develop knowledge, increase awareness of effective mental health and wellness strategies, increase the skills and abilities of law enforcement, and increase the number of law enforcement agencies and relevant stakeholders using peer support, training, family resources, suicide prevention and other promising practices for wellness programs.

Funding:

  • Anticipated Total Available Funding: $9.5 million
  • Anticipated Number of Awards: 47
  • Anticipated Award Amount: Up to $200,000 per 24-month period

Eligibility:

  • Law enforcement agencies
  • State law enforcement agencies
  • Federally recognized tribes and their public agencies
  • Territorial law enforcement agencies

More Information:

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
Read Success Stories Submit Your Story
Search for courses
To find a course or Instructor near you, enter your location below.