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Cooperative Agreements to Benefit Homeless Individuals for States Supplement

Description

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services announces the availability of funds to expand/enhance grant activities funded under the Cooperative Agreements to Benefit Homeless Individuals for States (TI-13-004) grant announcement. 

The purpose of (FY 2013) CABHI-States, a jointly funded program by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and the Center for Mental Health Services, is to enhance or develop the infrastructure of states and their treatment service systems to increase capacity to provide accessible, effective, comprehensive, coordinated/integrated, and evidence-based treatment services; permanent supportive housing; peer supports; CMHS-funded peer navigator(s); and other critical services to persons who experience chronic homelessness with substance use disorders or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders.  These funds are to be used to expand or enhance the scope of the project funded under the original grant.  The purpose of this supplemental funding is to enhance mental health services that were minimally funded in FY 2013 and allow for focused service expansion to veterans. The funding for this supplement must be used for new activities and shouldn’t supplant funding received under the original grant.

Grantees must expand mental health services and enhance capacity to serve the following:

• Veterans who experience homelessness with serious mental illness and/or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders.
• Veterans who experience chronic homelessness with serious mental illness and/or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders.
• Other individuals (non-veterans) who experience chronic homelessness with serious mental illness and/or co-occurring substance use disorders and serious mental disorders.

At a minimum the funds awarded will be used to conduct the following activities:

• Enhancement of the statewide plan to ensure sustained partnerships across public health and housing systems that will result in short- and long-term strategies to support individuals who experience chronic homelessness.  These responsibilities include but are not limited to: identifying service gaps, participating in infrastructure reform, policy development, involving individuals who experience chronic homelessness at the policy and practice level.
• Enhancing computer systems, management information system (MIS), electronic health records (EHRs), etc., to document and manage client needs, care process, integration with related support services, and outcomes.
• Training/workforce development to help staff or other providers in the community identify serious mental illness and/or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders.
• Screening and assessment for the presence of serious mental illness and/ co-occurring substance use and mental disorders and use the information obtained from the screening and assessment to develop appropriate treatment approaches.
• Outreach and direct treatment (including screening, assessment, and active treatment) for serious mental illness and/or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders.  Collaborate and partner with other funding agencies that provide outreach and direct treatment (e.g., PATH, Shelter Plus Care providers and outreach workers). 
• Assist clients in obtaining permanent housing.
• Case management or other strategies to link with and retain clients in housing and other necessary services, including but not limited to primary care services, and to coordinate these services with other services provided to the client.
• Organize and make available an array of integrated services and supports for individuals with serious mental illness and/or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders.
• Identification and referral of Medicaid-enrolled persons to primary care providers as needed.
• Assist providers (e.g., mental health providers, homeless service providers) seeking to become qualified Medicaid providers.
• Identification and provision of enrollment assistance to persons who are likely to need or be served by Medicaid and other mainstream benefit programs (e.g., SSI/SSDI, TANF, SNAP, etc.).
• Provide access to recovery support services designed to improve access to and retention in services and to continue treatment gains.;
• Delivery of behavioral health, housing support, peer, and other recovery-oriented services not covered under a state’s Medicaid plan.
• Assist the state Medicaid eligibility agency in developing a streamlined application process for individuals who experience chronic homelessness and assist providers (e.g., mental health providers, homeless service providers) seeking to become qualified Medicaid providers.
• Where the state Medicaid agency is in the process of developing a single streamlined application, provide technical assistance regarding the needs and challenges for individuals who experience chronic homelessness.

Grant funds may not be used when individuals have access to other resources that cover the same services (e.g., HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing [VASH]). Grantees must use SAMHSA funds in a way that is complementary to Medicaid, HUD, VA and other benefits.

CABHI-States Supplement grants are authorized under Section 520A of the Public Health Service Act, as amended.  This announcement addresses Healthy People 2020 Mental Health and Mental Disorders Topic Area.

SAMHSA strongly encourages all grantees to provide a smoke-free workplace and to promote abstinence from all tobacco products (except in regard to accepted tribal traditions and practices).

Eligibility

Eligibility for this supplemental funding announcement is limited to the current FY 2013 CABHI-States grantees.  CMHS is providing supplemental funding for this program in order a create a more comprehensive program that is consistent with the CABHI States model in order to better address the full range of individuals who experience chronic homeless and have behavioral health issues, including those with only serious mental illness  and homeless veterans.

SAMHSA believes that it is cost effective and efficient to limit eligibility to the current grantees because they already have the necessary infrastructure in place to immediately begin implementing activities under this supplemental funding announcement.

FY 2013 CABHI-States grantees would be in their second year of funding at the time of the receipt of FY 2014 grant funds. At this point, grantees would have hired program staff, begun to enhance or develop their statewide plans for system-wide short and long term support to the population of focus, begun the delivery of recovery-oriented services and begun efforts to assist the state Medicaid eligibility agency in developing a streamlined application process to assist the population of focus. Supplemental FY 2014 funds would enhance these efforts with a specific focus on the provision of mental health services to veterans who experience homelessness or chronic homelessness and non-veterans who experience chronic homelessness.

 

In 2010, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) approved Opening Doors, a Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.  One of the goals of this Strategic Plan is to achieve the goal of ending homelessness for veterans and chronic homelessness in general by 2015.  SAMHSA is committed in the effort to achieve this and other goals in the Federal Strategic Plan. This program prioritizes veterans who experience homelessness or chronic homelessness and other individuals (non-veterans) who experience chronic homelessness with serious mental illness, substance use disorders or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders.

On a single night in January 2013, there were an estimated 610,042 sheltered and unsheltered people who are homeless nationwide. Of those, approximately 109,132 were experiencing chronic homelessness and approximately 57,849 were identified as veterans experiencing homelessness. In an effort to efficiently and effectively impact the goals of the USICH Strategic Plan, it is vital to target states and communities.

The statutory authority for this program prohibits grants to for-profit agencies.

Award Information

Funding Mechanism: Cooperative Agreement

Anticipated Total Available Funding: $5,492,870

Anticipated Number of Awards: Up to 11

Anticipated Award Amount: Up to $499,351 per year

Length of Project: Up to 2 years

Cost Sharing/Match Required?: No

It is expected that up to $5,492,870 will be available to fund up to 11 awards in FY 2014.  Annual awards are expected to be up to $499,351 per year in total costs (direct and indirect) for up to 2 years.

Proposed budgets cannot exceed the allowable amount $499,351 in any year of the supplement.  Annual continuation awards will depend on the availability of funds, grantee progress in meeting project goals and objectives, timely submission of required data and reports, and compliance with all terms and conditions of award.