Health Equity Advancement Project (HEAP): Mini-Grants OR Community Awareness Partnerships

This solicitation announces two opportunities under the DSAMH’s State Opioid Response (SOR) grant for a wide range of organizations to implement approaches to engage racial/ethnic minorities who are impacted by opioid use disorder/stimulant use disorder (OUD/STUD).

Interested in learning more? Watch the Pre-Recorded Open Call informational webinar.

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HEAP Mini-Grants

The HEAP Mini-Grants will provide direct funding to treatment/recovery organizations and community-based organizations to better equip them to understand, engage, and address the needs of racial/ethnic minorities with OUD/STUD. This funding opportunity will be administered by Bowling Business Strategies (BBS), on behalf of DSAMH, for a five-month implementation period, from May 1, 2024, to September 29, 2024.

• HEAP CBO (up to $50,000, maximum 10 awards): This includes implementing strategies to build internal knowledge and capacity to engage constituencies at-risk for or experiencing OUD/STUD and their families, developing and enhancing referral pathways to connect individuals to OUD/STUD care, and serving as community conveners to engage community-based organizations and stakeholders to discuss and formulate community-driven strategies to address health inequities.
• HEAP TX (up to $75,000, maximum 5 awards): This includes strengthening implementation of the National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Standards or collecting and analyzing equity-focused data to inform programming and services.

HEAP Community Awareness Partnerships

As part of the state’s OUD/STUD response, DSAMH is developing a range of community education/awareness campaign strategies that will be accessible to community partners, including community leaders and CBOs. DSAMH wishes to develop partnerships to refine and advance these campaigns, with a special focus on reaching racial and ethnic minorities. The focus areas of DSAMH’s current campaign strategies include:

• Reducing stigma toward persons with substance use disorders (SUD)
• Promoting awareness of and access to SUD treatment and recovery services
• Preventing SUD among youth and adults
• Reducing stigma toward medications for opioid use disorders, such as methadone and buprenorphine
• Promoting access to naloxone/Narcan
• Promoting recovery

All partnerships will include: (1) Health Equity Summit readiness support, (2) quantitative and qualitative research planning to inform and advance HEAP implementation, and (3) communications/campaign plan development support. DSAMH will also provide community partners with access to a Campaign Planner, through its partner organization Health Management Associates (HMA), to assist in the design of a customized campaign plan. The customized campaign plan will include key activities, timelines, and costs associated with implementing the campaign.