The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation (BCBSMA Foundation) will fund a new initiative to train community-based organizations to provide their community members with low-intensity mental health services and support.
Donor Name: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation
State: Massachusetts
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/09/2022
Size of the Grant: up to $150,000
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
Advancing Community-Driven Mental Health will fund community-based organizations to improve access to community-based mental health services for adults experiencing mild to moderate mental health distress and practical problems of daily living.
Under this program, staff members of community-based organizations will be equipped to deliver mental health support in the community by teaching basic concepts and skills that enable individuals to address and deal with issues of immediate concern to them.
This grant program will utilize a community-based low-intensity psychological intervention known as Problem Management Plus (PM+). The intervention was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to address mental health treatment gaps in low- and middle-income countries.
In addition to grant funding, the program will provide training, technical assistance, coaching, implementation, and evaluation support to organizations that are interested in developing and implementing Problem Management Plus (PM+) services within their organizations.
Funding Information
This is a multi-year grant program (2023-2025). The first year is a planning year with funding available up to $100,000 per organization. Years two and three are implementation years with funding available up to $150,000 yearly.
Program Overview and Goals
The goals of this program are two-fold:
- Improve access to community-based mental health services for individuals experiencing “mild to moderate” mental health distress and practical problems of daily living
- Develop the skills of a non-clinical workforce to support community members in addressing mild to moderate” mental health distress and practical problems of daily living
Under this grant program, the BCBSMA Foundation and its collaborators (Partners in Health, The Family Van, and the Institute for Community Health) will provide training, technical assistance, coaching, and implementation support to organizations that are interested in developing and implementing Problem Management Plus (PM+) services within their organizations.
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
The Foundation will only consider organizations that meet the following criteria:
- Non-profit organizations that primarily serve people who have been socially, economically, culturally, or racially marginalized.
- Community-based non-clinical organizations that provide direct social or community services to individuals and families.
- Community-based organizations with strong, trusting relationships with community members and cultural and linguistic ability to connect with constituency populations.
- Community-based organizations whose staff are reflective of their service population.
In addition, applicants must
- Employ or contract with a licensed mental health professional or have identified a partner organization with a licensed mental health professional that can serve as the clinical supervisor and participate in limited training to understand the PM+ model.
- Be willing to have 2-3 staff participate in the PM+ training both virtually and in person.
- Be willing to participate in virtual and in-person implementation support meetings offered by program partners.
- Be willing to participate in virtual and in-person convenings facilitated by the Foundation.
- Be able and interested in partnering with the Foundation to evaluate the initiative, including data collection.
For more information, visit BCBSMA Foundation.
