';
Tags Posts tagged with "samhsa"

samhsa

Folders with the label Applications and Grants

The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) has announced a grant opportunity from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) specific to Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) programs.

SAMHSA will award approximately 7 applicants up to $678,000 each. The purpose of this program is to establish or expand and maintain ACT programs for transition-aged youth and adults with a serious mental illness (SMI) or serious emotional disturbance (SED). Recipients are expected to implement an ACT program to fidelity and provide ACT services to the population of focus. With this program, SAMHSA aims to improve behavioral health outcomes for individuals by reducing rates of hospitalization, mortality, substance use, homelessness, and involvement with the criminal justice system.

Please visit here for additional information. Applications are due by April 10, 2023.

Contact Information:

Program Issues:
Dawnielle Tillman, Public Health Advisor
Center for Mental Health Services
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(240) 276-1572

Grants Management and Budget Issues:
Office of Financial Resources, Division of Grants Management
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(240) 276-1400

If you have further questions, please contact RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp.

Mark your calendars to join SAMHSA on May 11 for the 6th Annual Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium!

This free, all-day, virtual event will feature an engaging plenary, informative sessions, and a diverse array of topics addressing the most pressing behavioral health needs in older adults.

Who should attend?

Public health practitioners, professionals in the aging network, mental health providers, substance use treatment providers, health care professionals, and anyone interested in ensuring the mental health of older adults. In partnership with the E4 Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Disparities in Aging, NCOA will be offering continuing education for several disciplines.

The symposium is brought to you by the National Council on Aging, the Administration for Community Living, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Watch for updates by mid-March from RCPA for registration info.

The Office of Financial Resources at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will be conducting a webinar on how to develop a competitive grant application. The same webinar will be offered on two dates: February 23, 2023, and March 7, 2023, both at 2:00 pm (ET).

Webinar: How to Develop a Competitive Grant Application

The webinar will address:

  • The three registration processes that need to be completed;
  • Preparing to apply for a grant;
  • Key components of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO);
  • Responding effectively to the evaluation criteria; and
  • Resources and technical assistance that are available.

Information on how to access the webinar can be found on the Training Events web page. There is no need to register in advance. If you would like to receive the slides prior to the webinar, you can make a request electronically.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will award approximately 26 applicants up to $3,000,000 to provide resources to improve the mental health outcomes for children and youth, birth through age 21, who are at risk of or have serious emotional disturbances (SED) and their families. This grant supports the implementation, expansion, and integration of the System of Care (SOC) approach by creating sustainable infrastructure and services required as part of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and their Families Program.

You can find additional information here. The grant closes on March 21, 2025.

If you have further questions, please contact RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp.

On January 30, the Biden Administration announced that the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) will both expire on Thursday, May 11, 2023. Under Act 30 of 2022, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs’ (DDAP) regulatory suspensions that are “related to federal exemptions granted under the federal public health emergency declaration” were extended until “the last day federal exemptions granted under the federal public health emergency declaration are authorized.” In other words, Act 30 aligned the timing for DDAP’s regulatory suspensions with the deadline for flexibilities granted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) — not with the deadline of the PHE itself.

Below is a description of each currently suspended regulation and what DDAP knows about efforts to make these changes permanent at the federal level.

Methadone Take-Home Supply

Current regulatory suspension: Under the federal PHE, SAMHSA is currently allowing up to 28 days of take-home medications for patients on stable dosages, as deemed appropriate by their physician. DDAP’s regulation 28 Pa. Code § 715.16(e) (prohibiting narcotic treatment programs [NTPs] from permitting a patient to receive more than a two-week take-home supply) is currently suspended under Act 30.

Expiration of the PHE: In November 2021, SAMHSA announced that the methadone take-home flexibilities will be extended for one year after the end of the PHE (now May 11, 2024). DDAP submitted its written concurrence with this exemption in February 2022. Furthermore, SAMHSA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in December 2022 that proposes modifying regulations related to methadone take-home supply up to 28 days, among other changes.

Buprenorphine Telehealth

Current regulatory suspension: Under the federal PHE, SAMHSA and the DEA are currently allowing initial evaluations for a patient who will be treated with buprenorphine to be completed via telehealth. DDAP has two related regulations that are currently suspended under Act 30:

  • 28 Pa. Code § 715.9(a)(4): Requires NTPs to make a face-to-face determination before admission to treatment for those clients who will receive medication to treat opioid use disorder (OUD).
  • 28 Pa. Code § 715.6(d): Requires NTPs to have narcotic treatment physician services onsite.

Expiration of the PHE: In March 2022, the DEA announced that it is currently working to make its teleprescribing regulations permanent. In June 2022, SAMHSA announced to State Opioid Treatment Authorities that flexibilities around telehealth evaluations before buprenorphine treatment at NTPs, specifically, will be extended for one year after the end of the PHE (now May 11, 2024).

SAMHSA and DEA have made clear that support for these flexibilities has been overwhelmingly positive, decreased stigma associated with OUD, and enhanced care for patients. Given the information above, DDAP does not anticipate any lapses in these flexibilities at either the federal or state level but will continue to provide updates and guidance as available.

Resources

If you have any further questions, please contact the Bureau of Program Licensure at (717) 783-8675 or via email.

PUBLISHED: 
NORRISTOWN — The Montgomery County Intermediate Unit has been awarded a $7.2 million four-year grant by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

This highly competitive Project AWARE grant, for which the intermediate unit will receive $1.8 million a year for four years, has only been awarded to approximately 20 entities across the United States.

Project AWARE is a nationwide grant created to develop a sustainable infrastructure for school-based mental health programs and services. The intermediate unit provides programs and services to Montgomery County school districts, career and technical schools, non-public schools and other organizations. Through its direct service to students, especially those most at risk, the intermediate unit has been able to identify ways to assist students and their families to navigate mental health supports and services.

“This grant award is a major recognition for the MCIU and reflects all the hard work and accomplishments of our MCIU employees in supporting students and families across the region,” Executive Director Regina Speaker said in a press release issued by the Intermediate Unit. “We appreciate the support of Senator Robert Casey and Congresswoman Madeleine Dean and many other partners, including the Pennsylvania Department of Education, for this grant project.”

The grant project will: expand suicide awareness training opportunities for students(K-12), implement a universal mental health screener to be utilized by school district or nonpublic school staff members and create an electronic data system to connect school mental health practitioners (e.g. psychologists, social workers and counselors) with community-based mental health providers that have immediate availability to support students in all levels of care (outpatient therapy to inpatient psychiatric care).

The MCIU is partnering with two other intermediate units on this project — Luzerne and Carbon-Lehigh County Intermediate Units — to proactively address students’ mental health needs.


RCPA recommends members in the Montgomery County region engage with the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit and local school districts for planning and discussions on how your continuum of services may benefit student mental health in the schools.

If you have further questions, please contact RCPA Children’s Mental Health Director Jim Sharp.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released the Unified Regulatory Agenda and Regulatory Plan, which outlines regulatory actions federal agencies are considering in the coming months. Regulations can be searched by specific agency, such as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which includes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).