Community Programs for Outreach and Intervention with Adolescents and Young Adults at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis | SM 18 010

Opportunity Information: Apply for SM 18 010

The grant opportunity titled Community Programs for Outreach and Intervention with Adolescents and Young Adults at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (Funding Opportunity Number SM 18 010) is a discretionary grant program offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Its central aim is to expand and improve access to effective treatment and supportive services for youth and young adults ages 16 to 25 who are living with serious mental disorders, specifically serious emotional disturbance (SED) or serious mental illness (SMI). The program is framed around the idea that earlier identification, better engagement, and more coordinated care can strengthen emotional and behavioral functioning and help young people transition into stable adult roles, including employment, education, and independent living.

A major focus of this opportunity is addressing the reality that many young people with SMI or SED do not reliably connect to services on their own, even when their needs are significant. The announcement highlights that this age group is often among the least likely to seek help and is therefore at high risk of "falling through the cracks" between child and adult systems of care. The grant emphasizes the importance of building outreach and engagement approaches that actively find and support youth who may be disconnected from school or work, involved in the juvenile or criminal justice systems, or experiencing homelessness. It also explicitly recognizes that youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities may be part of the population served, and that they can face additional barriers to accessing appropriate mental health supports.

The initiative is tied to the Healthy Transitions approach, which prioritizes developmentally appropriate services for the 16-25 age range and requires that services be culturally and linguistically competent. In practice, that means programs are expected to meet young people where they are, communicate in ways that make sense to them and their families, and respond to cultural context rather than relying on one size fits all clinical models. The work is not limited to clinical treatment alone. It includes increasing community awareness, improving screening and detection, conducting proactive outreach and engagement, making warm and effective referrals into treatment, coordinating care across providers and systems, and delivering evidence-informed interventions and supports.

The grant lays out two broad strategies for how communities and systems should achieve these goals. First, recipients are expected to create, implement, or expand a service array that is youth and young adult-driven, developmentally appropriate, and culturally competent, while also intentionally involving family members and community partners. The community involvement piece is described broadly and can include nontraditional partners such as business leaders and faith-based organizations, reflecting the expectation that support networks extend beyond the clinic. A key requirement embedded in this strategy is continuity of care between child-serving and adult-serving systems, so that young people do not lose access to services simply because they age out of one system before successfully connecting to another.

Second, the opportunity stresses cross-system collaboration and capacity building at higher organizational levels, with an emphasis on infrastructure and organizational change at the state or tribal level. This includes strengthening relationships and formal coordination between behavioral health providers and other systems that commonly touch the lives of high-need youth, such as schools, housing services, workforce programs, and justice-related agencies. The intent is to improve not only the availability of services, but also the expertise of the workforce and the overall ability of the service system to respond consistently and effectively to the target population.

From a funding perspective, the opportunity was posted March 13, 2018, with an original closing date of May 14, 2018. It falls under CFDA 93.243 and is categorized as a health-related grant program. The award ceiling listed is $1,000,000, and the agency anticipated making four awards. Eligibility is summarized as "Others" with additional clarification referenced in the full announcement, which typically indicates that more than one type of entity may apply depending on the detailed eligibility language in the notice.

Overall, this grant opportunity is designed to help communities build a more reachable, coordinated, and youth-centered pathway into care for 16- to 25-year-olds with serious mental health needs, especially those who are least likely to self-refer and most likely to experience avoidable crises, hospitalization, or system involvement without timely, well-connected supports.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Community Programs for Outreach and Intervention with Adolescents and Young Adults at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.243.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 13, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 14, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for SM 18 010

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