CFAs: RRTC on improving Employment Outcomes among People with Serious Mental Illness – US

Deadline: 24-May-24

The Administrator of the Administration for Community Living (ACL) invites applications for the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Improving Employment Outcomes Among People with Serious Mental Illness.

This RRTC will conduct research toward evidence-based services, supports, and interventions that promote positive employment outcomes among people with serious mental illness.

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.

Program Priority 

• The Administrator for the Administration on Community Living (ACL) establishes a priority for an RRTC on Improving Employment Outcomes among People with Serious Mental Illness (SMI). The RRTC must contribute to maximizing employment outcomes among people with SMI by:
  • Conducting research activities in one or more of the following priority areas, focusing on people with SMI as a group or on a specific clinical or demographic subpopulation of people with SMI. Research priorities include:
    • Barriers to and facilitators of providing access to Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services that are provided with fidelity to the evidence-based practice.
    • Employment outcomes associated with common provider-generated adaptations to IPS and/or augmentations of IPS with other interventions.
    • Supports needed to meet the range of vocational needs of people with SMI.
    • Technology to improve employment outcomes among people with SMI.
    • Effects of employer or government practices, policies, and programs on employment outcomes among people with SMI.
  • Focus its research on a specific stage(s) of research. If the RRTC is to conduct research that can be categorized under more than one stage, including research that progresses from one stage to another, those stages must be clearly specified and justified. These stages: exploration and discovery, intervention development, intervention efficacy, and scale-up evaluation, are defined in this funding opportunity announcement. Applicants 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.
    • The RRTC must conduct at least one study at the intervention efficacy or scale-up evaluation stage.
  • Demonstrating, in its original application, that people with SMI from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds will be included in study samples in sufficient numbers to generate knowledge and products that are relevant to the racial and ethnic diversity of the population of people with SMI being studied. The RRTC must describe and justify, in its original application, the planned racial and ethnic distribution of people with SMI who will participate in the proposed research activities.
  • Serving as a national resource center related to the employment of people with SMI by conducting knowledge translation activities that include, but are not limited to:
    • Providing research-based information and technical assistance to people with SMI and their representatives, service providers, and other key stakeholders.
    • Providing training (including graduate, pre-service, and in-service training), to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, rehabilitation service providers and other service providers, to identify and facilitate more effective delivery of services to people with SMI. This training may be provided through conferences, workshops, public education programs, in-service training programs, and similar activities.
    • Disseminating research-based information and materials related to improving employment outcomes among people with SMI to key stakeholders, including individuals with SMI.
  • Demonstrating in its original application that people with SMI will be involved in planning and implementing the RRTC’s activities, and in evaluating the RRTC’s work.

Funding Information

• Estimated Total Funding: $875,000
• Expected Number of Awards: 1
• Award Ceiling: $875,000 Per Budget
• Award Floor: $850,000 Per Budget
• Length of Project Period: 60-month project period with five 12-month budget periods

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Applicants
  • For FY 2024 the below guidance is provided to advance the Administration’s policy, as stated in E.O. 13985, to “pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.” This guidance is intended to begin to address inequities in HHS programs, processes, and policies that may serve as barriers to equal opportunity. By advancing equity in the NOFOs, they can “create opportunities for the improvement of communities that have been historically underserved, which benefits everyone.
    • ” States; public or private agencies, including for-profit agencies; public or private organizations, including for-profit organizations; IHEs; and Indian tribes and tribal organizations.
• Responsiveness and Screening Criteria
  • Application Responsiveness Criteria to be considered for review under this grant opportunity, applicants must propose to run a RRTC that is responsive to each of the requirements in the priority section of this notice of funding opportunity. Application Screening Criteria they will screen all applications, and will reject any applications that:
    • Are submitted after the established deadline;
    • Propose a budget that exceeds $875,000 in any single budget year;
    • Propose a project period that exceeds 60 months.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.