The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is accepting applications in fiscal year (FY) 2022 for States and Territories to Build Local 988 Capacity (Short title: 988 State and Territory Cooperative Agreements).
Donor Name: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Country: U.S.
Territory: Guam; the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; the Northern Mariana Islands; the Virgin Islands; and American Samoa
State: All States
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 01/31/2022
Size of the Grant: $105,000,000
Grant Duration: 2 years
Details:
The purpose of these cooperative agreements is to improve state and territory response to 988 contacts (including calls, chats, and texts) originating in the state/territory by: (1) recruiting, hiring and training behavioral health workforce to staff local 988/Lifeline centers to respond, intervene, and provide follow-up to individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis; (2) engaging Lifeline crisis centers to unify 988 response across states/territories; and (3) expanding the crisis center staffing and response structure needed for the successful implementation of 988. It is expected that these grants will: (1) ensure all calls originating in a state/territory first route to a local, regional and/or statewide Lifeline crisis call center; (2) improve state/territory response rates to meet minimum key performance indicators; and (3) increase state/territory support capacity to meet 988 crisis contact demand.
Required activities include:
- Distribute funds (i.e., subaward or contract) to selected local, regional and/or statewide/territorial Lifeline crisis centers to maintain and expand the workforce to respond to an increase in Lifeline call volume due to 988 implementation. This should include the state/territory Lifeline crisis center selection criteria for receipt of grant funding.
- Expand the ability of local, regional and/or statewide/territorial Lifeline crisis centers to respond to sudden and large spikes in call volumes following a public service announcement, disaster, or other type of traumatic event.
- Ensure that selected local, regional and/or statewide/territorial Lifeline crisis centers collect and report monthly data on contacts that result in emergency rescue, suicide attempts in progress, and/or mobile crisis outreach referrals.
- Facilitate timely and ongoing communication meetings with Lifeline crisis centers responding on behalf of the state or territory.
- By supporting Lifeline crisis center workforce and hiring of staff, ensure that the state or territory target to answer at least 90 percent of total calls received, potentially reducing the amount that goes to the national backup centers to 10 percent or less by June 15, 2022.
- Collaborate throughout the grant with the Lifeline administrator or representative on crisis center processes and response rates to align Lifeline network key performance indicators with individual center outcomes.
- Oversee the development and implementation of a quality improvement plan focusing on policies, first contact, assessment, referral, and access to local care to ensure there is a comprehensive and coordinated response to individuals at imminent risk for suicide. Demonstrate how the plan aligns with the state suicide prevention plan and includes state oversight of 988 and 911 coordination in collaboration with the state’s 911 administrator. This plan should be submitted within 60 days of award.
- Ensure veterans, service members, or their families attempting to connect to or request Department of Veteran Affairs services are appropriately linked to the Veterans Crisis Line.
- Evaluate current initiatives and develop a plan for implementing or increasing follow-up services through selected state or territory crisis center(s) by the end of the project period. The plan should include outreach for those identified at imminent risk of suicide and referred to emergency intervention (911/police/crisis intervention team referral, mobile crisis outreach, etc.).
- Develop a plan to respond to Lifeline chat and text requests initiated within the state or territory, which could be implemented either during or after the grant funding cycle. This plan should be submitted no later than September 29, 2022.
- Demonstrate through development of a sustainability plan how the state/territory will sustain the local crisis centers’ workforce capacity and maintain the Lifeline KPI metrics after the end of the 988 State and Territory grant’s performance period. Recipients will need to submit the sustainability plan by March 30, 2023.
- Ensure crisis workforce receives training on working with populations at higher risk of suicide in their communities, including awareness of referral options for high risk population-specific services.
Funding Information
- Estimated Award Amount: $105,000,000 to states and territories.
- Length of Project Period: 2 years
Eligible Applicants
- State and territory government agencies, including the District of Columbia; Guam; the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; the Northern Mariana Islands; the Virgin Islands; and American Samoa.
- SAMHSA will only make one award per state and territory. If SAMHSA receives more than one application from a state or territory, SAMHSA will fund the application with the highest priority score.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
