Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
June 14, 2007, Vol. 07-97

CMS Issues FY '07 Real Choice Systems Change Grant Announcement

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its Fiscal Year 2007 Real Choice Systems Change (RCSC) grant announcement.

CMS is offering a total of approximately $13 million in RCSC grants to qualifying States based on a competitive award process in two grant categories:

Category #1 State Profile Tool (SPT): Assessing a State's Long-Term Care System: Three-year grants to States are to be awarded in the amount of $350,000 to $500,000 per grant. Only one grant per State can be awarded.

Purpose

Many States are making great strides to balance their long-term support systems by reducing institutionalization and increasing opportunities for persons living with disabilities to live in the community. However, a consistent and systematic way to measure the degree and success of these balancing efforts has been lacking. With the release of this grant invitation, CMS is simultaneously releasing a request for proposals to national health policy experts to assist CMS explore and establish a set of qualitative and quantitative indicators of a balanced system. It is critical that we develop indicators of success that measure the capacity of State systems to offer community-based alternatives including characteristics correlated with improved qualities of life for individuals.

The purpose of this grant is two fold:

1. To help States take a critical first step in assessing their individual state long-term support systems with the completion of the "State Profile Tool". The "State Profile Tool" was recently developed by CMS in conjunction with stakeholder input, to systematically describe State long-term support systems; and
2. To provide support to States so that they may actively engage CMS and the National Balancing Indicator Contractor (NBIC) in the development of national balancing indicators and in enhancing State data systems capacity.

Grant Category #2: Person-Centered Planning Implementation Grant:

Three-year grants to States are to be awarded in the amount of $350,000-$500,000/Grantee. States may apply for more than one grant from this category as long as it can be demonstrated that the grants will support different target populations and there will be no duplication of effort between the grants. This grant opportunity allows funding to be used for costs related to:

• Developing and implementing a distinct Person-Centered Planning (PCP) model;
• Developing and formally instituting an "informal support" assessment and intervention process for the consumer's informal support system, and an "informal community network" assessment and intervention process to create enduring friendships and meaningful ties to organizations in her/his community; and
• Developing and implementing any of the six Optional Components:
  • Self-Direction
  • Comprehensive Community-based Resource Directory (web-based)
  • Comprehensive Risk Management Strategy
  • Web-based Care Planning Tool
  • Evidence-based Practice(s)
  • Planning for Youth with Co-occurring Disorders (MH/DD/SA)

Persons with mental illnesses are noted as target populations for both grant categories.

All grant applications are due by July 27, 2007.

To download the grant application, see: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/RealChoice/Downloads/RCSC2007_SolicitationFinal.pdf.

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The Center for Mental Health Services is a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, United States Department of Health and Human Services.