Grants, Funding & Awards

Department of Education Opens 2 Grant Applications for Mental Health Services Providers

• By Kate Lucariello
• 10/10/22

The United States Department of Education (ED) has announced the opening of two grant applications for fiscal year 2022, one for mental health service providers (MHSPs), and one

for postsecondary institutions to form partnerships to fund training and placement of MHSPs in high-need schools. Both grants were appropriated by the FY 2022 Appropriations Act and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in response to traumatic disruptive events such as the pandemic. The application deadline for both grants is Nov. 3, 2022.

The Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration grant, Listing No. 84.184x, provides competitive grants to support and demonstrate innovative partnerships to train school-based MHSPs. ED said the goal is to “increase the number and diversity of high-quality, trained providers available to address the shortages of mental health service professionals in schools served by high-need LEAs” (local educational agencies). Partnerships must provide opportunities to place mental-health-field college graduate students in high-need schools. This grant can go to help complete required field work, obtain training, complete credit hours, fund internships, and develop mental health career pathways, etc. Applicants are “encouraged to consider the needs of individuals from diverse backgrounds … to use funds to provide support services that will have a meaningful impact on diversifying the school-based mental health services workforce,” the announcement noted. This grant does not require matching funds. The partnership grant awards are estimated to go to 50 to 150 institutions from $500,000 up to $3 million. A pre-application webinar will be held Oct. 12 and 19, 2022, at 3 p.m. EDT. More information on this grant can be found here.

The School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program grant, Listing 84.184H, funds local and state schools to increase the number of credentialed school-based MHSPs in schools defined as demonstrated high-need. Funds may be used to recruit and retain new credentialed professionals, as well as expand and respecialize the training of existing staff. This grant requires cost-sharing or matching funds of at least 25% of the school budget. The MHSP grant awards are estimated to go to 150 to 250 institutions for $800,000 each. A pre-application webinar will be held Oct. 11 and 19, 2022, at 4 p.m. EDT. More information on this grant can be found here.