Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG)

Each year, BHDD Office of Mental Health receives a two-year grant from SAMHSA. This grant is called the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG). It is a noncompetitive grant based on a formula; funding is provided by SAMHSA to 59 recipients. The funding must be used to provide “comprehensive, community-based mental health services” to two types of people: adults with serious mental illnesses (SMI) and children with serious emotional disturbances (SED). Additionally, the funding can be used to help people who are having mental health crises, even if they have not been diagnosed with SMI or SED. Learn more about the block grant here.

There are many different services and programs that can be funded by the block grant – as long as the services fall into the category of “comprehensive, community-based mental health services” for the two types of people listed above, or the services are for people in crisis. This includes services like individual counseling, family counseling, group counseling, psychiatric services, medication management, transitional services, care coordination, and crisis interventions.

BHDD Office of Mental Health provides block grant funding to each of its 16 Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) and several Central Administration programs. The CMHCs and programs provide a wide variety of services to patients and people in crisis.

BHDD Office of Mental Health also allocates block grant funding to nonprofit organizations through a competitive solicitation process. The next available solicitation will fund nonprofits from July 2026 – June 2029. Nonprofit organizations that are interested in applying for block grant funding should check this webpage in the summer of 2025 for more information about the next solicitation.

A Mental Health Planning Council is a required activity for this grant. The purpose of the Planning Council is to ensure collaboration among various state agencies and provide opportunities for people with lived experiences with mental illness to give feedback and input to BHDD Office of Mental Health. Specific state agencies are required to participate on the council. A minimum of 51% of the Planning Council members must be people with lived experiences with mental illness or family members of people with mental illnesses. Learn more about the Planning Council requirements here. The BHDD Office of Mental Health Staff Liaison for the Planning Council is Michele Murff (Director of Housing and Homeless Program).

Each year, BHDD Office of Mental Health is required to provide the public with an opportunity to review and comment on the annual application. You can find the three most recent applications on this webpage. You can also find the three most recent annual reports on this webpage.