IHS Announces $46.4 Million in Funding for Behavioral Health
Special News for Indian Country
Indian Health Service Announces $46.4 Million in Funding for American Indian and Alaska Native Behavioral Health Programs
The Indian Health Service (IHS) has announced $46.4 million in funding opportunities for behavioral health services for American Indians and Alaska Natives. IHS stressed the importance of specific program focus areas for Indian Country, especially in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants may pursue funding for substance abuse prevention, suicide prevention—including the Zero Suicide Initiative, domestic violence prevention and forensic healthcare services, and the Behavioral Health Integration Initiative (BH2I).
Recipients of previous funding in the Substance Abuse and Suicide Prevention (SASP) and Domestic Violence Prevention (DVP) programs should note an important change for fiscal year (FY) 2022. Previous awards were made within the same funding opportunity announcement with distinct “purpose areas.” To facilitate program management, IHS has eliminated the “purpose area” format, and each area now has its own distinct funding opportunity announcement.
The application deadline for all six funding opportunities is February 2, 2022. The earliest anticipated start date is March 21, 2022.
The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) has the National Indian Health Outreach and Education (NIHOE) cooperative agreement with IHS. Two components of that agreement are theSubstance Abuse and Suicide Prevention (SASP) and Domestic Violence Prevention (DVP)Projects. Among our activities: We provide technical assistance for Tribal leaders on behavioral health concerns of national importance to Tribes. We host numerous webinars, listening sessions and learning events centered on prevention efforts in substance abuse, suicide and domestic violence. Most importantly, as part of our cooperative agreement we provide technical assistance to grantees of these specific IHS funding opportunities and feature their programs at the national level.
