FY 2011 Grant Request for Applications (RFA)

Cooperative Agreement for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Center for Excellence in Behavioral Health (Short Title: HBCU – CFE)

Initial Announcement

Request for Applications (RFA) No. TI-11-013
Posting on Grants.gov: April 18, 2011
Original Receipt date: May 23, 2011
Announcement Type: Initial

Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) No.: 93.243

Key Dates

Application Deadline Applications are due by May 23, 2011
Intergovernmental Review (E.O. 12372) Applicants must comply with E.O. 12372 if their State(s) participates.  Review process recommendations from the State Single Point of Contact (SPOC) are due no later than 60 days after application deadline.
Public Health System Impact Statement(PHSIS) / Single State Agency Coordination Applicants must send the PHSIS to appropriate State and local health agencies by application deadline. Comments from Single State Agency are due no later than 60 days after application deadline.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2011 for a Cooperative Agreement for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Center for Excellence in Behavioral Health (HBCU-CFE).  The purpose of this program is to continue and enhance the effort to network the 105 HBCUs throughout the United States to promote behavioral health, expand campus service capacity and facilitate workforce development.  For the purposes of this RFA, the term “behavioral health” refers to a state of mental/emotional being and/or choices and actions that affect wellness. Behavioral health problems include substance abuse or misuse, alcohol and drug addiction, serious psychological distress, suicide, and mental and substance use disorders. This includes a range of problems from unhealthy stress to diagnosable and treatable diseases like serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders, which are often chronic in nature but that people can and do recover from. The term is also used to describe the service systems encompassing the promotion of emotional health, the prevention of mental and substance use disorders, substance use, and related problems, treatments and services for mental and substance use disorders, and recovery support.  
The goals of the HBCU-CFE are to: 

  1. Promote student behavioral health to positively impact student retention.
  2. Expand campus service capacity expansion, including the provision of culturally appropriate behavioral health resources.
  3. Facilitate best practices dissemination and behavioral health workforce development. 

The HBCU-CFE program design is consistent with the workforce development priorities outlined in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 that focused on the importance of increasing racial/ethnic diversity in the health professions to reduce health disparities. The program’s focus is directly aligned with goals in the recently released, HHS Strategic Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, which emphasizes the need for the strategic implementation of programs to expand the diversity of the health care workforce.

SAMHSA has identified eight Strategic Initiatives to focus the Agency’s work on improving lives and capitalizing on emerging opportunities.  The HBCU-CFE program is part of SAMHSA’s effort to achieve the goals of the Prevention of Substance Abuse and Mental Illness, and Trauma and Justice Initiatives.  

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Center for Excellence in Behavioral Health cooperative agreement is authorized under sections 509 and 520(A) 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 Substance Abuse Topic Area HP 2020-SA.

SAMHSA strongly encourages all grantees to provide a smoke-free workplace and to promote abstinence from all tobacco products (except in regard to accepted tribal traditions and practices).  

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are the105 nationally recognized Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) or a consortium of HBCUs with a lead college/university as the applicant.  The recipient of the award will be the entity legally responsible for satisfying the grant requirements. 

The purpose of Executive Order 13532 is to "strengthen the capacity of historically black colleges and universities to provide the highest quality education, increase opportunities for these institutions to participate in and benefit from Federal programs, and ensure that our Nation has the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by the year 2020."  The HBCU-CFE program responds to this Order by directing grant funds to the nationally recognized HBCUs, or a consortium of HBCUs, to promote behavioral health, facilitate best practices dissemination, and expand service capacity on these campuses. 

The complete list of HBCUs may be viewed at the following Web site: http://www.ed.gov/about/inits/list/whhbcu/edlite-list.html.

The statutory authority for this program prohibits grants to for-profit agencies.

Award Information

Funding Mechanism: Cooperative Agreement
Anticipated Total Available Funding: $500,000
Anticipated Number of Awards: 1
Anticipated Award Amount: Up to $500,000
Length of Project Period: Up to 3 years

Proposed budgets cannot exceed $500,000 in total costs (direct and indirect) in any year of the proposed project.  Annual continuation awards will depend on the availability of funds, grantee progress in meeting project goals and objectives, timely submission of required data and reports, and compliance with all terms and conditions of award.

Applicants should be aware that SAMHSA cannot guarantee that sufficient funds will be appropriated to fully fund this program.

This award will be made as cooperative agreement.

Contact Information

For questions about program issues contact:

Cynthia Graham, MS
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
1 Choke Cherry Road
Room 5-1035
Rockville, Maryland 20857
(240) 276-1692
cynthia.graham@samhsa.hhs.gov

Lt. LaMar Henderson, MSW
Center for Mental Health Services
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
1 Choke Cherry Road
Room 2-1120
Rockville, Maryland 20857
(240) 276-0435
lamar.henderson@samhsa.hhs.gov

For questions on grants management and budget issues contact:

Love Foster-Horton
Office of Financial Resources, Division of Grants Management
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
1 Choke Cherry Road
Room 7-1095
Rockville, Maryland 20857
(240) 276-1653
love.foster-horton@samhsa.hhs.gov

Documents Needed to Complete a Grant Application

1. REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS (RFA)

YOU MUST RESPOND TO THE REQUIREMENTS IN THE RFA IN PREPARING YOUR APPLICATION.

2. GRANT Application Package

YOU MUST USE THE FORMS IN THE APPLICATION PACKAGE TO COMPLETE YOUR APPLICATION.

Additional Materials

For further information on the forms and the application process, see Useful Information for Applicants

Additional materials available on this website include:

Last updated: 04/18/2011