Centers of Excellence for Behavioral Health Disparities

For programmatic or technical questions:
Humberto Carvalho
240.276.2974
Humberto.carvalho@samhsa.hhs.gov

For grants management or budget questions:
Corey Sullivan
240.276.1213 or 240.276.1412
FOACMHS@samhsa.hhs.gov

This program (Short Title: CoE-BH Disparities) will provide grants to establish 3 Centers of Excellence (CoEs) to provide training and technical assistance for healthcare practitioners working to address behavioral health disparities.

One CoE will be supported that addresses behavioral health disparities impacting:

1. African Americans
2. The LGBTQ community
3. Older individuals, age 60 and over

Required activities include:

• Provide training and technical assistance to practitioners on how to effectively implement change strategies within mental and substance use disorder treatment systems to address identified disparities
• Provide up-to-date information and education related to the provision of evidence-based mental and substance use disorder treatment to the population of focus with a particular emphasis on engaging and retaining individuals in care
• Provide training and education to practitioners to recognize any potential bias they may have and provide them skills and tools to address this bias such that it does not impact the care they provide
• Provide publicly available training and training that offers opportunities for continuing education credits
• Provide comprehensive resources and training modules for treatment system administrators and organization leadership to ensure treatment provider organizations are welcoming and inclusive environments for the CoE's population of focus
• Training and technical assistance (TTA) should be delivered in a variety of modalities including self-paced online learning modules; webinars; products/materials; and in-person intensive training on implementation strategies that will directly impact the reduction in disparities across the mental and substance use disorder treatment system
• Coordinate with other SAMHSA TTA providers
• Develop a system of ongoing environmental scans to assure that best practices/evidence-based practices are consistently being presented and updated as information becomes available

SAMHSA intends to make an equitable distribution of awards in terms of geography (including urban, rural and remote settings) and balance among populations of focus and program size.

Award ceiling: $700,000 per year
Project period: 5 years
Estimated number of awards: 3
Estimated total program funding: $2,100,000

Links to the full announcement, application instructions, and the online application process are available through grants.gov.