RRTC on Aging among Adults with Serious Mental Illnesses

Deadline: 4-Jul-23

The Administrator of the Administration for Community Living (ACL) invites applications for a new award for fiscal year (FY) 2023 for the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Aging Among Adults with Serious Mental Illnesses.

The purpose of the RRTCs is to achieve the goals of, and improve the effectiveness of, services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act through well-designed research, training, technical assistance, and dissemination activities in important topical areas as specified by NIDILRR. These activities are designed to benefit people with disabilities, family members, rehabilitation service providers, policymakers, and other research stakeholders. NIDILRR seeks to fund an RRTC on Aging Among Adults with Serious Mental Illnesses.

Priorities

The RRTC must contribute to the development of new knowledge on serious mental illnesses extending into old age. The research activities must be focused on the priority population of adults aging with serious mental illnesses. According to SAMHSA, serious mental illness among people over the age of 18 is defined as having a diagnosable mental, behavior, or emotional disorder that causes serious functional impairment that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities. Adults aging with serious mental illness are those with early onset of a serious mental illness and persistent symptoms and disability requiring long-term treatment and do not include adults with any mental illness with onset in late life.
Under this priority, the RRTC must contribute to improved outcomes among adults aging with serious mental illnesses by:
- Conducting research activities in at least two of the following priority areas:
  - Individual and environmental factors that contribute to health disparities among adults aging with serious mental illnesses.
  - Developing, testing, and evaluating evidence-based practices, procedures, or programs that can be applied across clinical and community-based settings to improve community living and participation, health and function, or employment outcomes for adults aging with serious mental illnesses.
  - Effects of state, federal, or other policies (e.g., laws and regulations, protections, funding services) on community living and participation, health and function, or employment outcomes among adults aging with serious mental illnesses.
- Specifying and justifying the NIDILRR outcome domain or domains to be addressed in the research activities for the RRTC. Applicants may propose to focus on one or more NIDILRR outcome domains which include community living and participation, health and function, and employment.
- Conducting research activities at one or more stages of research. The RRTC must justify the need and rationale for research at the proposed stage or stages and describe fully an appropriate methodology or methodologies for the proposed research.
- Demonstrating that people with disabilities from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds will be included in study samples in sufficient numbers to generate knowledge and products Page 10 of 50 that are relevant to the racial and ethnic diversity of adults aging with serious mental illnesses. The applicant must describe and justify the planned racial and ethnic distribution of adults aging with serious mental illnesses who will participate in the proposed research activities.
- Serving as a national resource center on aging with serious mental illnesses by:
  - Delivering trainings using research-based content on aging with serious mental illnesses to adults aging with serious mental illnesses and their representatives, disability and aging service providers who may include but are not limited to providers in the ACL aging and disability networks, physical and mental health care providers, researchers, or other relevant stakeholders.
  - Providing technical assistance to adults aging with serious mental illnesses and their representatives, disability and aging service providers, physical and mental health care providers, payors, researchers, or other relevant stakeholders.
  - Disseminating research-based information to adults aging with serious mental illnesses and their representatives, disability and aging service providers, physical and mental health care providers, payors, researchers, or other relevant stakeholders.
- Involving people aging with serious mental illness and other key stakeholder groups in the activities to be conducted under paragraphs (a) and (e) to ensure the research-based information generated by the RRTC is effective, usable, and accessible. Key stakeholder groups may include but are not limited to national consumer organizations for people with serious mental illnesses, organizations in the ACL aging and disability networks, and physical and mental health care providers.

Funding Information

Estimated Total Funding: $875,000
Expected Number of Awards: 1
Award Ceiling: $875,000
Award Floor: $870,000
Length of Project Period: 60-month project period with five 12-month budget periods

Eligibility Criteria

For profit organizations other than small businesses
Special district governments
County governments
Others
Small businesses
Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
Private institutions of higher education
Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
City or township governments
Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
State governments
Additional Information on Eligibility:
- States; public or private agencies, including for-profit agencies; public or private organizations, including for-profit organizations; IHEs; and Indian tribes and tribal organizations. Foreign entities are not eligible to compete for, or receive, awards made under this announcement. Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible to receive awards under this funding opportunity announcement.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.