[mentalhealth-l] Grant Opportunities

[SMHP]

January 15, 2010

  Three Grants Opportunities that Could be Integrated
into Efforts to Build a Comprehensive System of Learning Supports


Below is information about the grants opportunities. First, however, 
we stress how to pursue these in ways that helps you build a 
comprehensive approach to student and learning supports.

Propose to Use New Funds in Ways that Extend System Building

Building a comprehensive system of learning supports is not first and 
foremost about finding new money. The process begins with redeploying 
and weaving together existing programs, personnel, and resources 
currently available in schools, districts, and state departments of 
education.  This takes leadership, and it starts with mapping 
existing resources using a well-conceptualized and a comprehensive framework.

For example, see Mapping & Analyzing Learning Supports (A School 
Improvement Tool for Moving toward a Comprehensive System of Learning 
Supports) 
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/summit2002/tool%20mapping%20current%20status.pdf

When related new funds (e.g., a grant opportunities) become 
available, it also takes leadership to propose and use the new funds 
in ways that integrate the funding into a strategic plan that moves 
the system of learning supports forward and avoids projectitis and 
mission drift.

See, for example,  Another Initiative? Where Does it Fit? A Unifying 
Framework and an Integrated Infrastructure for Schools to Address 
Barriers to Learning and Promote Healthy Development  - 
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/infrastructure/anotherinitiative-exec.pdf

The Grant Programs

There are three currently available grants from the U. S. Department 
of Education that might be helpful in strengthening a comprehensive 
system of learning support. In considering these grants, use the 
opportunity to pull together key staff to review what is being done 
already and what still is needed to support all students. The 
question to be explored with respect to these grants is: How might 
each fit into the core of your learning supports system and help to 
build capacity and infrastructure that will sustain the work long 
after the grant period ends?

All three grants are from the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, 
U. S. Department of Education. Here is an excerpt from the email 
announcement sent by OSDFS:


"(1) Elementary and Secondary School Counseling program grant 
application (CFDA 84.215E).
         http://www.ed.gov/programs/elseccounseling/applicant.html.

The application deadline date is February 26, 2010.

The purpose of the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling program 
is to support efforts by LEAs (public school districts) to establish 
or expand counseling programs.

The estimated available funds for this grant are $15,437,591and the 
estimated range of awards being $250,000-$400,000 with the estimated 
average size of awards being $350,000 and the estimated number of 
awards being 44.

For specific questions regarding the Elementary and Secondary School 
Counseling program, please contact the Competition Manager, Loretta 
McDaniel at <mailto:loretta.mcdaniel at ed.gov>loretta.mcdaniel at ed.gov


(2)  Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) grant 
application (CFDA 84.184E).
         http://www.ed.gov/programs/dvpemergencyresponse/applicant.html

The application deadline date is February 26, 2010.

The FY 2010 REMS application has undergone several changes since the 
FY 2009 grant competition. Applicants are encouraged to carefully 
review the application package to ensure that they are responding 
directly to this year's priority, eligibility requirements, grant 
requirements, selection criteria, and the Government Performance and 
Results Act measure for this program.

We will be scheduling a series of Question and Answer telephone calls 
during the grant application period to respond to applicant 
questions. To view the dates and times for those calls, please visit 
the REMS TA Center Web site at http://rems.ed.gov/

For specific questions regarding the REMS grant program, please 
contact the Competition Manager, Sara Strizzi at 
<mailto:sara.strizzi at ed.gov>sara.strizzi at ed.gov


(3)  Grants for the Integration of Schools and Mental Health Systems 
Program grant application (CFDA 84.215M).
         http://www.ed.gov/programs/mentalhealth/applicant.html

The application deadline date is February 22, 2010.

The purpose of the Grants for the Integration of Schools and Mental 
Health Systems program is to increase student access to high-quality 
mental health care by developing innovative approaches that link 
school systems with the local mental health system. Projects funded 
under this program support infrastructure development to develop 
and/or improve collaborative efforts between schools, mental health 
service systems and juvenile justice systems to provide, enhance, or 
improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services to students; 
enhance crisis intervention services; provide professional training; 
provide technical assistance to systems and families; ensure 
linguistically appropriate and culturally competent services; and 
evaluate the effectiveness of the program.

This Grant Competition eligibility is limited to State educational 
agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter 
schools that are considered LEAs under State law, and Indian Tribes.

The estimated available funds for this grant are $5,913,000 and the 
estimated range of awards being $150,000-$400,000 with the estimated 
average size of awards being $347, 800 and the estimated number of 
awards being 16-18.

For specific questions regarding the Grants for the Integration of 
Schools and Mental Health Systems program, please contact the 
Competition Manager, Sarah Allen at 
<mailto:sarah.allen at ed.gov>sarah.allen at ed.gov

##################

With regard to the grant for the Integration of Schools and Mental 
Health Systems, we were pleased to have our Center's work again 
highlighted in the background section of the application:
"As described by the University of California, Los Angeles' Center 
for Mental Health in Schools, development and implementation of a 
comprehensive, systemic approach to improving the mental health 
status of children as called for requires a broad, systems change in 
which services move from:

'(1) serving the few to ensuring an equal opportunity to succeed for the many;

(2) fragmented practices to integrated approaches;

(3) narrowly focused, discrete, problem specific, and 
specialist-oriented services to comprehensive, multifaceted, cohesive 
systems approaches;

(4) an efficacy research-base toward effectiveness research as the 
base for student support interventions, with articulated standards 
that are reflected in an expanded approach to school accountability; and

(5) projects and pilot demonstrations toward sustainable initiatives 
that are designed to goto scale.'
@#@#@#

  If you would like to receive a copy of the handbook for Rebuilding 
for Learning, which provides an overview of a comprehensive framework 
for learning support, please email your request to 
<mailto:ltaylor at ucla.edu>ltaylor at ucla.edu


School Mental Health Project/
Center for Mental Health in Schools
UCLA Dept. of Psychology
Los Angeles, CA  90095-1563
(310) 825-3634 / Toll Free: (866) 846-4843 / Fax: (310) 206-8716
Email: smhp at ucla.edu
Web: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu 
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