Description
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2013 Cooperative Agreements to Benefit Homeless Individuals for States (CABHI-States) grants. The purpose of this jointly funded program is to enhance or develop the infrastructure of states and their treatment service systems to increase capacity to provide accessible, effective, comprehensive, coordinated/integrated, and evidence-based treatment services; permanent supportive housing; peer supports; CMHS-funded peer navigator(s); and other critical services to persons who experience chronic homelessness with substance use disorders or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders. The outcomes will include: 1) assisting states to develop strategies associated with addressing the needs of individuals who experience chronic homelessness; and 2) increasing the number of individuals placed in permanent supportive housing and enrolled in Medicaid and other mainstream benefits (e.g., SSI/SSDI, TANF, SNAP).The major goal of the CABHI-States program is to ensure, through state and local planning and service delivery, that the most vulnerable individuals who experience chronic homelessness receive access to sustainable permanent housing, treatment, recovery supports, and Medicaid and other mainstream benefits. To achieve this goal, SAMHSA funds will support four primary types of activities. CSAT funds will support three primary types of activities:1. Enhancement or development of a statewide plan to ensure sustained partnerships across public health and housing systems that will result in short- and long-term strategies to support individuals who experience chronic homelessness. 2. Delivery of behavioral health, housing support, peer, and other recovery-oriented services not covered under a states Medicaid plan.3. Assist the state Medicaid eligibility agency in developing a streamlined application process for individuals who experience chronic homelessness and assist providers (e.g., alcohol and drug treatment facilities, homeless service providers) seeking to become qualified Medicaid providers. As well, engage and enroll eligible persons who experience chronic homelessness in Medicaid and other mainstream benefit programs (e.g., SSI/SSDI, TANF, SNAP).CMHS funds will support the fourth primary activity, peer navigator(s):4. Use of a peer navigator to assist individuals who have co-occurring substance use disorders with serious mental illness identify and access housing, recovery support services, social mainstream benefits, and personal network development. SAMHSA has demonstrated that behavioral health is essential to health, prevention works, treatment is effective, and people recover from mental, substance use, and co-occurring mental and substance use disorders. To continue to improve the delivery and financing of prevention, treatment and recovery support services, SAMHSA has identified eight Strategic Initiatives to focus the Agencys work on people and emerging opportunities. More information is available at the SAMHSA Web site: http://www.samhsa.gov/About/strategy.aspx. This program is aligned with all Strategic Initiatives and specifically Recovery Support. If your application is funded, you will be expected to: 1) develop a health disparities impact statement. This statement should utilize grantee data to identify subpopulations (i.e., racial, ethnic, sexual/gender minority groups) vulnerable to health disparities; and (2) develop a plan to decrease the differences in access, service use and outcomes among those subpopulations. This plan should include use of the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health and Health Care. See Appendix I: Addressing Behavioral Health Disparities. CABHI-States is one of SAMHSAs services grant programs. SAMHSA intends that its services grants result in the delivery of services as soon as possible after award. Service delivery should begin by the 4th month of the project at the latest.CABHI-States grants are authorized under Section 509 and 520A of the Public Health Service Act, as amended. This announcement addresses Healthy People 2020 Mental Health and Mental Disorders Topic Area HP 2020-MHMD and/or Substance Abuse Topic Area HP 2020-SA.DefinitionsFor the purposes of this RFA, the term behavioral health refers to a state of mental/emotional health and/or choices and actions that affect wellness. Behavioral health problems include substance abuse or misuse, alcohol and drug addiction, serious psychological distress, suicidal ideation, and mental and substance use disorders. The term is also used to describe the service systems encompassing the promotion of emotional health, the prevention of mental and substance use disorders and related problems, treatments and services for mental and substance use disorders, and recovery support.Mental and substance use disorders are referred to throughout this document. This phrase is meant to be inclusive of mental disorders, substance use disorders, and co-occurring substance use and mental disorders.Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is an approach that helps individuals and families who are homeless and/or disabled to choose, obtain, and retain long-term, affordable housing with supportive services. Persons participating in PSH have voluntary access to ongoing case management services that are designed to preserve tenancy and address their evolving needs. Housing is decent, affordable, and integrated in the community. It may include an apartment or single room occupancy in a building (congregate housing), rent-subsidized apartments, or houses in the open housing market (scattered housing), as well as designated units within privately owned buildings. Chronic homelessness as characterized under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as amended by S. 896 of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009 means, with respect to an individual or family, that the individual or family (i) is homeless and lives or resides in a place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or in an emergency shelter; (ii) has been homeless and living or residing in a place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or in an emergency shelter continuously for at least 1 year or on at least 4 separate occasions in the last 3 years; and (iii) has an adult head of household (or a minor head of household if no adult is present in the household) with a diagnosable substance use disorder, serious mental illness, developmental disability, post traumatic stress disorder, cognitive impairments resulting from a brain injury, or chronic physical illness or disability, including the co-occurrence of 2 or more of those conditions. In addition, a person who currently lives or resides in an institutional care facility, including a jail, substance abuse or mental health treatment facility, hospital or other similar facility, and has resided there for fewer than 90 days shall be considered chronically homeless if such person met all of the requirements described above prior to entering that facility.