The National Center for Mental Health Dissemination, Implementation and Sustainment Cooperative Agreement | SM 24 010

Opportunity Information: Apply for SM 24 010

The National Center for Mental Health Dissemination, Implementation and Sustainment Cooperative Agreement is a discretionary federal funding opportunity from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), specifically aligned with the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). The core aim is to strengthen the real-world ability of mental health service systems to take evidence-based or science-informed practices and actually put them into routine use, spread them effectively across settings, and keep them going over time. In practice, the program is focused less on inventing new interventions and more on improving how organizations plan, execute, adapt, and sustain services so that proven approaches do not stall after pilot phases or disappear when initial funding or enthusiasm fades.

Under this cooperative agreement, the single funded recipient (often referred to as the MHDIS recipient) is expected to function as a national center that builds implementation capacity for CMHS service recipients, capacity-building initiatives, and technical assistance recipients, as well as the broader organizations that oversee or directly deliver mental health services. The work centers on using science-based methods for implementation, dissemination, and sustainment, which typically means applying established implementation frameworks, structured change management strategies, data-driven quality improvement approaches, and practical tools that help organizations translate evidence into day-to-day clinical and operational workflows. Because the award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, it also signals substantial federal involvement during the period of performance, meaning SAMHSA is likely to work closely with the recipient on priorities, deliverables, and coordination rather than simply issuing funds with minimal interaction.

The recipient is required to deliver two main types of support. First is training and technical assistance (TTA) that helps recipients plan and carry out implementation, including the selection or refinement of a service, readiness assessment, implementation planning, workforce preparation, fidelity and adaptation decisions, measurement strategies, and sustainment planning. This piece is meant to build broader capability and shared expertise across many stakeholders, so it often involves structured learning opportunities such as webinars, learning collaboratives, toolkits, office hours, and guidance documents that recipients can use repeatedly. Second is localized, targeted, and intensive technical assistance (TA) provided directly to CMHS recipients and other mental health providers. This second component is more hands-on and situational, designed to address on-the-ground barriers such as leadership alignment, staffing constraints, workflow redesign, data collection challenges, cultural or contextual fit, interagency coordination, and maintaining service delivery during transitions. The intention is to improve not only whether a service is adopted, but also how well it is implemented, how consistently it is delivered, and how likely it is to be maintained after initial support ends.

Eligibility is broad within the public and nonprofit mental health ecosystem. Applicants may include states and U.S. territories (explicitly including Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau) as well as the District of Columbia. Political subdivisions of states may apply, along with Indian tribes and tribal organizations as defined in federal law, and health facilities or programs operated by or under contract/award with the Indian Health Service. Other public or private nonprofit entities are also eligible, which allows universities, nonprofit technical assistance organizations, and certain nonprofit health systems to compete if they have the infrastructure to operate at a national scale and provide sophisticated implementation support.

Key administrative details frame the scale and competitiveness of the opportunity. The funding opportunity number is SM 24 010, the CFDA number listed is 93.243, and the instrument type is a cooperative agreement within the health funding activity category. Only one award is expected, which typically means SAMHSA intends to designate a single national hub or coordinating center rather than multiple regional awardees. The award ceiling is $7,467,006, indicating a large, high-capacity effort with expectations for substantial reach, staffing, and deliverable production. The opportunity was created on April 11, 2024, with an original closing date of June 10, 2024, reflecting a standard federal application window and suggesting applicants needed to already have mature partnerships, implementation expertise, and operational readiness to respond on time.

Overall, this program is designed to close the gap between what research shows can work in mental health care and what is reliably delivered in community and clinical settings. The funded center is expected to help mental health systems not just learn about effective services, but develop the practical, repeatable know-how to implement them with quality, tailor them responsibly to local contexts without undermining effectiveness, and sustain them so improvements last beyond a single grant cycle.

• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "The National Center for Mental Health Dissemination, Implementation and Sustainment Cooperative Agreement" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.243.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-04-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-10. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $7,467,006.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for SM 24 010

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: