Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
/OVERVIEW: SAMHSA’s grantmaking supports public and nonprofit mental health services and professional development. The administration also supports public health measures in the areas of addiction recovery and emergency treatment.
IP TAKE: SAMHSA typically runs between 40 and 60 grantmaking programs a year. In addition to browsing its grants page, grantseekers should sign up for the administration’s email updates for its grant programs and take advantage of the videos, virtual events and reference materials that are available on its grantseekers page. Application procedures, requirements and due dates vary by program. While eventually responsive, expect to jump through some hoops.
PROFILE: As a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) was established by Congress in 1992 “to make substance use and mental disorder information, services, and research more accessible.” Although the SAMHSA budget has been reduced over the past several years, it still has billions of dollars at its disposal and funds a diversity of grant programs related to mental health. At this writing, the administration funds 45 separate grantmaking programs in the areas of mental health, public health and addiction services. Recent areas of specific interest include suicide prevention, opioid recovery, childhood traumatic stress, programs for tribal and indigenous groups and the expansion of community behavioral health services, although grantmaking programs change yearly. Grantmaking is distributed about evenly throughout the U.S.
Grants for Mental Health
The focus of SAMHSA’s grantmaking is the expansion of mental health services in the U.S. with a strong focus on populations and groups who lack access to service and information about mental health and addiction. During any given year, the program is likely to run between 40 and 60 individual grantmaking programs with specific goals and priorities. A significant number of recent grantmaking programs have focused on the mental health of children and adolescents, including the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, grants for the Enhancement and Expansion of Treatment and Recovery Services for Adolescents, Improving Life Trajectories for Youth and Young Adults with Serious Mental Disorders and the Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention Program. The foundation also supports programs that support the prevention of underage drinking.
Another area of significant interest is grantmaking for the prevention and treatment of opioid addiction. A grantmaking program launched in 2021 funds grants to Prevent Prescription Drug/Opioid Overdose Deaths, and another new program funds Tribal Opioid Response Grants. The administration has also made several grants for the expansion of opioid recovery centers and for the prevention of substance abuse among racial and ethnic minorities.
Smaller areas of interest for the administration’s mental health funding include suicide prevention programs, programs for tribal and indigenous communities, mental health education and the expansion of community mental health services and programs.
Grants for Public Health
SAMHSA’s grantmaking for mental health overlaps with public health in the areas of addiction treatment and the emergency management of drug overdose. Recent grantmaking programs in these areas include grants for medication-assisted treatment for addiction, training for first responders that supports the use of life-saving drugs and/or devices in overdoses and education for medical professionals about alternatives to opioids in main management.
Important Grant Details:
SAMHSA makes over $1 billion in grants each year. Grants range from $25,000 to $100 million, with an average grant size of about $500,000. A majority of its grants go to individual states’ departments of health, mental health, human services and addiction services. Other types of grantees include counties, cities and large- to medium-sized non-profit hospital systems and mental health service providers.
SAMHSA accepts applications for all grantmaking programs. Grantseekers are strongly advised to sign up for the administration’s email updates about grant announcements and to consult the Training, Events, Videos, and Reference Materials for Applicants and Grantees page. Application procedures, requirements and due dates vary by program. General questions about grants and grant applications may be addressed to the Division of Grants Management at 240-276-1400.
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