Grants for Expansion and Sustainability of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances | SM 22 007

Opportunity Information: Apply for SM 22 007

Grants for Expansion and Sustainability of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances (Funding Opportunity Number SM 22 007) is a discretionary grant program run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). It sits under the health funding activity category and is associated with CFDA number 93.104. The opportunity was created on February 17, 2022, with an original application closing date of April 18, 2022. SAMHSA anticipated making about 10 awards, with a maximum award amount (ceiling) listed as $10,421,424.

The core goal of the program is to improve mental health outcomes for children, adolescents, and young adults from birth through age 21 who are experiencing serious emotional disturbances (SED), along with improving outcomes for their families. Instead of focusing only on isolated clinical services, the grant is designed to help communities build and strengthen a coordinated, long-term approach to care that addresses the real-world complexity of children and youth with SED. That means the program is as much about building a functioning local system as it is about paying for individual services.

A central feature of this funding is support for the System of Care (SOC) approach, which is the organizing framework behind SAMHSA's Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and their Families Program. This larger effort is widely known as the Children's Mental Health Initiative (CMHI). In practical terms, SOC is about making sure children and families are not bounced between disconnected agencies, repeating their story at every door, or losing support due to gaps between schools, behavioral health providers, child welfare, juvenile justice, and other child-serving systems. The SOC model emphasizes coordination across partners, shared planning, and services that are tailored to a child's needs and family circumstances, rather than forcing families to fit into rigid program categories.

The opportunity specifically highlights implementation, expansion, and integration. "Implementation" points to putting the SOC framework into practice where it is not yet fully operating, including creating the policies, workflows, partnerships, and service arrays needed to deliver coordinated care. "Expansion" signals scaling what works to reach more children, youth, and families, whether that means adding new service capacity, reaching new geographic areas, or expanding the range of supports available. "Integration" focuses on aligning and connecting the SOC approach within and across systems, so that the SOC is not a standalone project but becomes part of how the community routinely delivers services, shares responsibility, and funds care.

A major emphasis of the program is sustainability. The grant is aimed at building durable infrastructure and services that can last beyond the grant period. This includes developing the local governance and coordination mechanisms, strengthening provider and workforce capacity, and establishing the service components that are considered required within the CMHI framework. Sustainability typically implies planning for how services and coordination will be maintained through ongoing financing strategies, policy changes, interagency agreements, and embedding practices into the day-to-day operations of local partners.

Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others," with applicants directed to a separate eligibility clarification field in the full notice. In other words, the summarized listing does not spell out a single applicant type (such as only states or only nonprofits). Interested organizations would need to consult the full funding announcement text to confirm which entity types are eligible and whether there are any special conditions, such as requirements related to being a public entity, a tribal government, a local governmental unit, or a specific kind of community-based organization.

Overall, this grant opportunity is best understood as a large-scale community mental health systems investment targeted at children and youth with SED. It funds communities to build and sustain a coordinated System of Care infrastructure and service network under SAMHSA's CMHI model, with the intent of producing better mental health and functional outcomes for young people and improving support and experience for families navigating complex service systems.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Grants for Expansion and Sustainability of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.104.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 17, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 18, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $10,421,424.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for SM 22 007

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