Refugee Mental Health

ODJFS seeks to fund proposals that will develop and implement a comprehensive approach to the delivery of a Refugee Mental Health program for a specified Ohio county. ODJFS will award grants to qualified organizations who can address the mental health needs of refugee populations in that county. ODJFS seeks to fund counties within the state with this RFGA. The applicant must have a physical location within the county they are applying for to be considered. ODJFS will select one provider for each of the three counties (however, the final number of awards may be changed at ODJFS discretion due to factors of proposal quality, etc.): 1. Franklin 2. Summit 3. Cuyahoga Successful proposals will describe effective plans to serve the refugee population with programs that provide mental health services and increase the capacity of mental health services for refugees in that county. The approach should be client-centered, trauma-informed, strengths-based, and culturally and linguistically appropriate. Activities must address the following target areas: 1. Increasing mental health literacy; 2. Coordinating mental health care; 3. Facilitation of wellness group ODJFS seeks to improve mental health services for the refugee population across the state. ODJFS seeks to fund the best proposal in each of the three counties as identified Section 1.4, Overview of Project, in this RFGA. Applicants must explain how they would provide services to achieve these objectives by including information on curriculum, staff training, program duration, and specifying measurable outcomes to be achieved. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) releases this Request for Grant Applications (RFGA) in order to award funding to qualified applicants to implement a Refugee Mental Health Program to build capacity within communities to address the mental health needs of refugee populations, including help overcoming stigmas associated with mental health care and creating opportunities for social engagement to reduce isolation. ODJFS is seeking applicants for this funding from non-profit organizations in Ohio; of particular interest are participants with specific project descriptions that focus on outcomes and convey strategies for achieving intended performance. Through this RFGA, proposals are solicited from three Ohio counties (i.e., Franklin, Summit, and Cuyahoga) from organizations that can offer eligible refugees a range of services that will address mental health in refugee populations. The approach should be client-centered, trauma-informed, strengths-based, and culturally and linguistically appropriate. This RFGA is released in order to select a maximum of three grantees, one for each of the three counties as described in Section 1.4, to operate a Refugee Mental Health program for the time period of July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023, with a renewal for an additional two years. The actual dollar amounts awarded for selected applications will be based on federal funding made available to ODJFS, and the number of grant applications which are both qualified and selected for award. ODJFS utilizes both the projected arrivals for the upcoming federal fiscal year and arrivals from previous fiscal years to determine the allocation of the federal award for each region. Applications are qualified if they are in accordance with the application submission requirements and earn at least the minimum score requirements for quality and completeness of applications, as specified in this RFGA. Scoring and final selections will be completed by an Application Review Team (ART) selected by ODJFS. To make its final selection of applications which will receive awards and to determine the size of those awards, ODJFS may, at its option, take into consideration application quality, reasonableness and appropriateness of the proposed budget, geographic diversity, local collaborations, and funding available. ODJFS may, at its option, make selections based in part on geographical and demographic criteria in order to provide a wide range of services around the state, and in both urban and rural areas. Applicants are encouraged to prepare and submit applications and budgets which are both practicable and capable of services provided by grantee. Applicants are to be aware that ODJFS may, at its sole discretion, negotiate with all technically qualifying applicants for a revised Project Budget, if the Project Budgets of all technically qualifying applicants are in excess of the available funding for this project. Please refer to Section 7.1 C. of this RFGA for further information on ODJFS procedures to be implemented if this occurs. If funds are not adequately utilized by any grantee(s) over the life of the project/agreement, ODJFS reserves the right to reduce an award, and at its discretion, to increase the size of the award made to a more effective grantee.