Cooperative Agreements for Innovative Community Crisis Response Partnerships

For program and eligibility questions:
Walker Tisdale
240.276.1085
walker.tisdale@samhsa.hhs.gov

For fiscal and budget questions:
240.276.1400
FOACMHS@samhsa.hhs.gov

For grant review process and application status questions contact:
Samantha Dock Herbster
240.276.0405
Samantha.DockHerbster@samhsa.hhs.gov

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will provide funding to create or enhance existing mobile crisis response teams to divert adults, children, and youth experiencing mental health crises from law enforcement in high-need communities. A high-need community is one where mobile crisis services are absent or inconsistent, where most mental health crises are responded to by first responders, and/or where first responders are not adequately trained or equipped to diffuse mental health crises. This includes increasing access to licensed/credentialed professionals in rural and remote communities.

Program goals include:

• Increase the capacity of mobile crisis response teams while expanding access in high-need communities
• Increase collaboration to improve crisis stabilization in the community for adults, children, and youth
• Improve equity in the continuity of care and post-crisis follow-up, including for those with suicidal ideation and/or a previous suicide attempt

Required activities include:

• Create, or enhance existing, mobile crisis response teams to serve individuals in high-need communities utilizing SAMHSA's National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care: Best Practice Toolkit as a guide for best practices in the delivery of mobile crisis services
• Deliver crisis response services in a culturally responsive manner and offer service options in the primary language usually spoken by residents of the identified community or communities
• Establish and implement post-crisis follow-up protocols for all recipients of mobile crisis response services
• Provide developmentally appropriate/age-appropriate crisis response and post-crisis follow-up to adults, children, and youth
• Within 90 days of the grant award, develop and implement protocols for partnering and coordinating project activities with local law enforcement, the 988 call/contact center, and 911/Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP)
• Provide evidence-based crisis intervention training to providers and first responders serving individuals in crisis
• Develop and utilize collaborative safety plans/crisis plans as a part of the mobile crisis response that include addressing access to lethal means
• Develop and implement a data system to track mobile crisis response key performance indicators (KPIs) and mobile crisis response data and outcome metrics
• Apply a community crisis mapping model for the identified high-need service area that can be updated at regular intervals to inform partnerships and help identify service needs, service gaps, and opportunities to improve equity
• Coordinate project activities with relevant state efforts through the Mental Health Block Grant and Medicaid to support alignment of services and sustainability

Eligible applicants include:

• States and territories, including the District of Columbia
• Political subdivisions of states
• Tribes
• Tribal organizations
• Health facilities
• Programs operated by or in accordance with a contract or grant with the Indian Health Service
• Other public or private nonprofit entities

Award ceiling: $750,000 per year
Project period: Up to 4 years
Estimated number of awards: 12
Estimated total program funding: $9,000,000

At least two awards will be made to tribes/tribal organizations pending adequate application volume.

Links to the full announcement, application instructions, and the online application process are available through grants.gov.