Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Safe & Supportive Schools: School-Based Mental Health Services (SBMH) Grant Program, Assistance Listing Number 84.184H

Background
The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) is issuing a notice inviting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2022 for the School-Based Mental Health Services (SBMH) Grant Program, Assistance Listing Number (ALN) number 84.184H. The SBMH program provides competitive grants to State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and consortia of LEAs to increase the number of credentialed school-based mental health services providers providing mental health services to students in LEAs with demonstrated need.

Grant Details
The program aims to address the mental health needs of students, including those resulting from traumatic events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, community violence, and adverse childhood experiences. The priorities for the FY 2022 competition include increasing recruitment and retention-related incentives for school-based mental health services providers, promoting respecialization and professional retraining of existing mental health services providers, and increasing the diversity and cultural competency of school-based mental health services providers. The competition has two absolute priorities and two competitive preference priorities, which are detailed in the notice.

Eligibility Requirements
Eligible applicants include SEAs, LEAs, and consortia of LEAs. Applicants must ensure that any school-based mental health services provider hired under this grant is credentialed by the State to work in an elementary or secondary school. The program requires applicants to describe the LEAs with demonstrated need designated by the SEA to be served by the proposed project, how the LEA or consortium meets the definition of an LEA with demonstrated need, and the importance and magnitude of the problem.

Period of Performance
Applications are available from October 4, 2022, with a deadline for transmittal of applications on November 3, 2022. Pre-application meetings via webinar for prospective applicants will be held on October 11th and 19th, 2022.

Grant Value
The grant program requires all applicants to include non-Federal matching funds in the amount of at least 25 percent of their budgets. Administrative costs for SEA applicants may not exceed 10 percent of the annual grant award, while administrative costs for LEA applicants and consortia of LEAs may not exceed 5 percent of the annual grant award.