On September 30, 2024, the Biden-Harris administration earmarked $68.5 million in grant funding to address the U.S. mental health crisis.
The investment will expand the mental health workforce and support the needs of underserved communities. The funding will also increase access and equitable care for the millions of Americans with mental health and substance use needs.
Funding is specifically earmarked to support initiatives at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), including Minority Fellowship Programs, Assisted Outpatient Treatment for Individuals with Serious Mental Illness, Campus Suicide Prevention, and Child Traumatic Stress Initiatives. See the SAMHSA announcementopens in new window for a complete list and more information about these funding opportunities.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services awarded $2 million in funding to recipients of the Leading Edge Acceleration Projects (LEAP) in Health ITopens in new window program.
The LEAP Health IT program focuses on improving interoperable health IT systems, which are information networks that allow for the secure exchange of health information between different health systems and applications. Interoperable systems improve patient care because they increase patients’ access to their data and enable health care professionals to view more complete, accurate patient records.
This year’s awardees include the Trustees of Columbia University, who will be developing high-quality AI tools for health care delivery, and Oregon Health and Science University, which will be working to increase adoption of interoperable health IT systems across community based behavioral health clinics with limited tech resources.
