Skip to main content

SAMHSA Announces $10.39 Million in Treatment Assistance for Homeless Individuals

SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) is now accepting applications for a new funding opportunity: Treatment for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness.

SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) is now accepting applications for a new funding opportunity: Treatment for Individuals with Serious Mental Illness (SMI), Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED), or Co-Occurring Disorders (CODs) Experiencing Homelessness, which they are calling ”Treatment for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness.” 
 
This opportunity supports the development and/or expansion of community infrastructure that integrates behavioral health treatment and recovery support services for individuals, youth, and families with an SMI, SED, or COD who are experiencing homelessness. One of the grant’s required activities is connecting program participants to enrollment resources for health insurance, Medicaid, and mainstream benefits such as SSI/SSDI. 
 
How can SOAR providers get involved? 
1. Share this grant opportunity with key stakeholders in your community and your SOAR State Team Lead
  • Discuss the grant requirements and application at your next SOAR Steering Committee and/or Continuum of Care (CoC) meeting
  • Share this with your organization’s Executive Director or development department, as well as other local stakeholders who may be interested in pursuing this funding
  • Reach out to other SOAR programs in your state to identify potential collaborations 
2. Propose including funding for a full time or part time SOAR benefits specialist in the application
  • SOAR specialists are pivotal in increasing access to mainstream benefits for individuals with SMI and CODs and this income is critical to obtaining stable housing! 
3. Highlight your successful SOAR community collaborations in the Project Narrative
  • As part of your proposed implementation plan in the Project Narrative, brag about your current successes with SOAR and incorporate data from the Online Application Tracking (OAT) system or your state’s tracking program
  • Document how increasing your local capacity for SOAR and integrating it with housing and treatment services supports recovery for individuals with SMI and CODs


Who is eligible to apply?
Eligible applicants are domestic public and private nonprofit entities.  For example:
  • State governments and U.S. territories (eligible state applicants are either the State Mental Health Agency (SMHA) or the Single State Agency (SSA) for Substance Abuse);
  • Governmental units within political subdivisions of a state, such as a county, city or town;
  • Federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) tribes, tribal organizations, Urban Indian Organizations (UIO), and consortia of tribes or tribal organizations;
  • Public or private universities and colleges; and
  • Community- and faith-based organizations.
Recipients that received an award under the FY 2017 Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals (GBHI) FOA, or the FY 2016 and FY 2017 Cooperative Agreements to Benefit Homeless Individuals (CABHI) FOA, are not eligible to apply.


Award details
Up to 16 awards will be made, with state governments and territories eligible to receive up to $1 million per year and governmental units within states or territories (such as cities, federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) tribes or tribal consortia, or community organizations) are eligible to receive up to $500,000 per year. The grant may be continued up to five years, depending upon availability of funds. 


Application deadline
Applications are due by Friday, March 9, 2018