HHS announces $35 million in new funding opportunities to strengthen mental health services for children and young adults

Key Takeaways

On March 9, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Office of Minority Health (OMH) announced new funding opportunities for states and counties to improve and expand access to community mental health services for children and young adults. As a part of the administration’s new strategy to address the nation’s mental health crisis, this new funding seeks to improve mental health programs and services through early intervention and suicide prevention in schools, universities, foster care systems and other youth centered settings.

Counties are directly eligible for 4 of the 7 new grant programs under this funding announcement, including:

• Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education)
• Expansion and Sustainability of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances (SED)
• The Community Programs for Outreach and Intervention with Youth and Young Adults at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P)
• Demonstrating Policy Effectiveness To Promote Black Youth Mental Health

Together, these grants provide approximately $27 million in new funding opportunities for counties to improve access to mental health services for youth and young adults.

Counties are integral to the nation’s behavioral health system, investing annually more than $100 billion in community health systems, including mental health and addiction services. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the nation’s ongoing mental health crisis and exposed key gaps in access and coverage to behavioral and mental health services, with children and young adults disproportionately affected.

Through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) investments, counties have begun to address these areas of vulnerability, while also recognizing the need for sustained resources and support from our federal partners. Counties will continue to work with Congress and the administration to provide mental health resources for youth and advance policies and practices that tackle the nation’s mental health crisis.

For a list of the new funding opportunities, click here. Grant application deadlines vary by program and span from April 18, 2022, to May 31, 2022.

Additional Resources

• NACo Blog: President Biden announces strategy to address the national mental health crisis
• NACo Workshop: Leveraging Federal Funding to Strengthen Mental Health in Schools
• NACo Policy Brief: Enhance Counties’ Ability to Prevent and Treat Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders
• NACo Report: Counties and the American Rescue Plan Act Recovery Fund: Behavioral Health