Legislative Services

Rural Mental Health Initiative Grant Program (RIGP) 

The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is accepting applications for the Rural Mental Health Initiative Grant Program (RIGP) as directed by SB 1677. Through the RIGP, HHSC will award an estimated 4-6 grants to rural-serving Local Mental Health Authorities (LMHAs), Local Behavioral Health Authorities (LBHAs), non-profit organizations, or local governments. The grant project period is a single state fiscal year, but HHSC anticipates renewing grants without re-procurement through state fiscal year 2029.

SB 1677 requires HHSC to provide funding for a community collaborative that includes a county with a population of less than 250,000 to reduce recidivism, arrest, and incarceration of individuals with mental illness and wait times for forensic commitment in cooperation with local LMHAs/LBHAs. The purpose of RIGP is to establish or expand regional behavioral health centers for (1) adults or children experiencing serious mental illness or emotional disturbance, (2) jail diversion centers for adults experiencing mental illness, and (3) to provide mental health treatment, prevention, and early intervention in the LMHA's or LBHA's local service areas to provide:

•    Additional forensic hospital beds and competency restoration services,
•    Inpatient and outpatient mental health services to adults and children, and
•    Services to reduce recidivism and the frequency of arrest, incarceration, and emergency detentions among persons with mental illness in the service areas.

The deadline for submitting questions or requests for clarifications to HHSC's sole point of contact is 5 PM, Friday, June 14, 2024.