RFA coming: Grants will support behavioral health at SBHCs

The state Department of Health anticipates posting a Request for Funding Applications (RFA) on May 16, 2022, to increase access to and quality of behavioral health care and services in school-based health centers (SBHCs). We expect to close the application period on June 15, 2022.

The behavioral health SBHC grant program will award up to nine 10-month grants of $90,000 each for SBHCs in Washington to add, improve, or expand behavioral health care services for K-12 students in public schools. This program is in addition to (and separate from) the general SBHC grant program, which closed April 15, 2022. If you applied for a DOH SBHC grant, you are welcome to apply for an SBHC Behavioral Health Improvement grant as well.

To be eligible, applicants must be the Sponsoring Health Care Agency of an established (or actively being established) SBHC and serve a high proportion of students from a historically underserved community or population. More details will be available on the Behavioral Health SBHC Grant Information page when the RFA is posted.

In the meantime, here’s what you can do:

  • Share this upcoming opportunity with your networks.
  • Think about potential behavioral health improvement/expansion projects that would address a behavioral health need in the community served at your SBHC.
  • Talk to your partners about the opportunity. Applicants will need to collect and submit letters of support from the school and community where the SBHC is located.

Email any questions to School-Based Health Center Program Coordinator Mary Simock. Answers to question topics will be posted in a weekly FAQ on our website.