The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is making five small grants to nonprofits in an effort to help states better respond to families in crisis.
The eligibility rules are unique in that it is limited to what is called “family-controlled organizations.” Here is the explanation provided:
A family-controlled organization is an organization that has a board of directors made up of more than 50 percent family members who have primary daily responsibility for the raising of a child, youth, adolescent or young adult with a serious emotional disturbance up to age 18, or 21 if the adolescent is being served by an Individual Educational Plan (IEP), or age 26 if the young adult is being served by an Individual Service plan in transition to the adult mental health system.
SAMHSA is limiting eligibility to family-controlled organizations to strengthen the capacity of families with children who have serious emotional disturbance to act as agents of transformation in influencing the type and amount of services provided to them and their children and to ensure their mental health care is family driven and youth guided.