FY 2008 RFA Grant Application Information: Program Supplement to Center for Mental Health Services Suicide Prevention Resource Center

FY 2008 RFA Grant Application Information (RFA)

Application Information Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)

Request for Applications (RFA)

Program Supplement to Center for Mental Health Services Suicide Prevention Resource Center

(Initial Announcement)

Request for Applications (RFA) No. SM-08-014
Posting on Grants.gov: March 20, 2008
Receipt date: April 25, 2008
Announcement Type: Initial

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

Key Dates:

Application Deadline	Applications are due by April 25, 2008
Intergovernmental Review (E.O. 12372)	Letters from State Single Point of Contact (SPOC) are due no later than 60 days after the 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 (SAMHSA) announces the availability of funds to expand/enhance grant activities funded under the Cooperative Agreement for the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) grant announcement The purpose of the SPRC is to provide prevention support, training, and resources to assist organizations and individuals to develop suicide prevention programs, interventions, and policies, and to advance the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP).

The SPRC supports the technical assistance and information needs of SAMHSA’s State/Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention and Campus Suicide Prevention grantees and State, Territorial, and Tribal suicide prevention coordinators and coalition members with customized assistance and technical resources. The SPRC also plans and implements conferences and training events; creates publications and Web content on suicide and suicide prevention for professionals, advocates, and consumers; identifies and disseminates best practices; facilitates informational exchanges and peer-to-peer mentoring using listservs and other technologies; and promotes suicide prevention as a component of mental health transformation.

Supplemental funding is being provided for the SPRC as a result of FY 2008 Congressional funding of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act. Since its passage in 2004, this Act has supported a variety of programs related to youth suicide prevention and intervention. The pending FY 2008 reauthorization of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act revised the provision requiring the SPRC to provide appropriate information, training, and technical assistance on youth suicide prevention to requiring such information, training, and assistance on suicide prevention among all ages, particularly for youth. Funds awarded under this supplement will be used to expand current efforts to reduce suicide and suicide attempts by focusing on populations at risk such as American Indians and Alaska Natives, youth involved in the juvenile justice system, youth and adults who have made suicide attempts, and veterans.

At a minimum, the supplemental funds to be awarded will be used to promote suicide prevention by conducting the following activities, which are consistent with the SPRC’s goals and which will advance the NSSP. All activities must be conducted with special regard to diversity issues, including but not limited to, racial/ethnic minorities, age, gender, sexual orientation and culture.

Review SPRC products and services to determine the extent to which they are advancing the goals and objectives of the NSSP.
Expand technical assistance to include all new State/Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention and Campus Suicide Prevention grantees. Further expand suicide prevention technical assistance efforts to American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes, tribal organizations, and territories, including the Native Aspirations sites, as well as to other indigenous populations, as appropriate.
Provide both cross-site/topical and individualized technical assistance services for suicide prevention grantees, as indicated.
Develop a virtual “Community of Learning” (e.g., online forums, Webinars, conference calls, etc.) to advance the field of suicide prevention. The “Community” would include both current and former SAMHSA Suicide Prevention grantees and other suicide prevention stakeholders, as appropriate. It would focus on lessons being learned by SAMHSA-funded Suicide Prevention grantees across the Nation. If participants in this “Community” were asked by SPRC (with approval by SAMHSA) to speak at grantee or other meetings, SPRC would not be expected to fund the participants’ travel.
Building on existing SPRC activities, increase the ability of non-grantee systems, agencies and workforces that serve high risk groups to take a comprehensive public health approach to suicide prevention. Examples of high risk groups include juvenile justice, older adults, people with mental and substance use disorders, people with physical disabilities, people who seek services in emergency departments and primary care settings, people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, and people in regions where there are few mental health providers.
Promote collaborations among relevant Federal, community, State, and tribal services and organizations that serve veterans and their families and by identifying best practices for this population.
Promote collaborations and coalitions among suicide prevention stakeholders within a designated geographical area or system (e.g., a State, region, campus system, etc.) as defined by the SPRC in consultation with SAMHSA staff. Relevant stakeholders include, but are not limited to, State Mental Health and Substance Abuse Commissioners; State, Veterans Affairs and Tribal Suicide Prevention Coordinators; State and Tribal Suicide Prevention Coalitions; Garrett Lee Smith State/Tribal and Campus Suicide Prevention grantees; grantees in the Linking Adolescents at Risk for Suicide to Mental Health Services grant program; and National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Crisis Centers.
Expand efforts to prevent suicide on college and university campuses on both grantee and non-grantee campuses (e.g., develop a campus page on the SPRC Website, develop Statewide and/or systems-wide campus coalitions, etc.). These efforts should include attention to veterans and their families as well as to older, non-traditional students.
In collaboration with evaluation and communications contractors, increase awareness and application of Garrett Lee Smith and Adolescents at Risk grantee successes via presentations and documents (printed and/or Web-based) that summarize unique successes, lessons learned and local evaluation findings.
Increase collaboration with other program partners by sharing information with and feedback from SAMHSA Government Project Officers, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the evaluation team, and the communications team, as well as other relevant SAMHSA-funded TA centers and grant programs.

As of the fall 2007, approximately 1.4 million men and women have been deployed to serve in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in support of the Global War on Terror. Individuals returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are at increased risk for suffering post-traumatic stress and other related disorders. Experts estimate that up to one-third of returning veterans will need mental health and/or substance abuse treatment and related services. In addition, the family members of returning veterans have an increased need for related support services. To address these concerns, SAMHSA strongly encourages all applicants to consider the unique needs of returning veterans and their families in developing their proposed project.

The Suicide Prevention Resource Center grant is authorized under 520C of the Public Health Service Act, as amended. This announcement addresses Healthy People 2010 focus area 18, Mental Health.

Eligibility

Eligibility for this funding opportunity is limited to the Education Development Center, Inc. (SM-57392). Eligibility is limited because, through the SPRC, the Education Development Center supports the suicide prevention technical assistance and information needs of the Nation and especially of SAMHSA State/Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention and Campus Suicide Prevention grantees and State, Territorial, and Tribal suicide prevention coordinators and coalition members. It would be both inefficient and wasteful to fund a second technical assistance provider to fulfill this function with these supplemental funds.

Award Information

Funding Mechanism:	Cooperative Agreement
Anticipated Total Available Funding:	Up to $972,000
Anticipated Number of Awards:	1
Anticipated Award Amount:	Up to $972,000 per year
Length of Project Period:	Up to 2 years

It is expected that up to $972,000 will be available to fund 1 grant in FY 2008. Annual awards are expected to be up to $972,000 per year in total costs (direct and indirect) for up to two years.

Your proposed budget cannot exceed the allowable amount in any year of the supplement. 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.

Contact Information

For questions on program issues, contact:

Richard McKeon, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Center for Mental Health Services
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
1 Choke Cherry Road
Room 6-1105
Rockville, Maryland 20857
(240) 276-1873
richard.mckeon@samhsa.hhs.gov

For questions on grants management issues, contact:

Gwendolyn Simpson
Office of Program Services, Division of Grants Management
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
1 Choke Cherry Road
Room 7-1085
Rockville, Maryland 20857
(240) 276-1408
gwendolyn.simpson@samhsa.hhs.gov

Documents needed to complete a grant application:

Applications that are not submitted on the required application form will be screened out and will not be reviewed.

Download the complete Announcement No. SM-08-014

Download RFA in MS Word format
Download RFA in Adobe PDF format

You must respond to the requirements in the RFA in preparing your application.

PHS 5161-1 (revised July 2000): Includes the face page, budget forms and checklist. Applications that are not submitted on the required application form will be screened out and will not be reviewed.