Consumer and Family Evaluation Mini-Grants Program

January 4, 2009

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Do you need help evaluating or measuring a mental health need in your community? The Mental Health Transformation Project (MHTP) for the third year in a row is excited to offer the Consumer and Family Evaluation Mini-Grants Program! The Mental Health Transformation Project in partnership with the Washington Institute for Mental Health Research and Training (WIMHRT) is spearheading this creative program. To download the application click on the following link: 2009 Mini-Grant Program Application.

One of our 2008 Mini-Grant winners was Tamara Johnson from Youth 'N Action! She had this to say about the program, “I was awarded a Mini grant in 2008 to do a Youth Guided Program Evaluation. We evaluated youth involvement in the system of care. The technical assistance and application process was very user friendly, especially for a young adult like me who has never written a grant. It wasn't intimidating at all. The program evaluation gave us concrete information on how to further develop and sustain youth involvement in the state of Washington which is critical to our organization. We are so thankful for the opportunity the mini grant provided us and we enjoyed process just as much as we enjoy the product! Good luck to all of 2009's applicants.”

Last year a wide range of topics were covered. Here are just a few:

Conduct focus groups and individual interviews with youth statewide to assess and evaluate youth involvement in their system of care.
Conduct a three-stage evaluation of Grant County, Washington to identify mental health services that could be provided by a consumer-driven organization.
Explore the need for “ability recovery coaching” in Southwest Washington, the barriers consumers face in obtaining coaching, and the policy and financing issues associated with these barriers.
Establish a dialogue with mental health consumers regarding their knowledge about resilience, recovery, and their personal obstacles.
build an empirically-based case to support the expansion of their services to meet the growing need for these types of resources.

For more informatin about last year's mini-grants go to the Mini-Grants web page.

These Mini-Grants are intended to help consumers and families collect and use valuable information about any number of issues and topics related to the mental health system. Eligible applicants include:

Mental health consumers
Mental health consumers family members
Consumer/family organizations
Tribes
Tribal members

For more information about this innovative program, please download the full announcement and application packet. If you have any questions regarding the Mini-Grant Program or request technical assistance, please contact:

Maria Monroe-DeVita at 206-604-5669
Call toll free at 1-866-303-3037
Email Summer Schultz at sumschu@u.washington.edu

The deadline for Letter of Intent is fast approaching. For interested applicants, the very first step of this process is to submit a Letter of Intent. A Letter of Intent is a condensed version of the grant proposal and highlights the type of project the applicant plans to submit.

The letter should also include the anticipated budget for this project. Technical assistance will be available to help each applicant develop their Letters of Intent. Submit all Letters of Intent to Summer Schultz by email (sumschu@u.washington.edu) or fax (206.685.3430) by January 15, 2009.

If you have any questions or comments please mail Summer Schultz at sumschu@u.washington.edu. Spread the word to anyone you think may be interested in this innovative program. Please note the list of important dates below:

Important Dates:
Technical Assistance (TA) Availability	*AVAILABLE TODAY!* Monday – Friday 9 AM – 5 PM
Deadline for Letters of Intent Required for everyone interested in applying	January 15, 2009
Technical Assistance Training Webcast Required for all applicants	January 20, 2009 11 AM – 1 PM
Deadline for Mini-Grant Application Proposals	February 13, 2009
Review Committee Meeting	February 25, 2009
Notification of Grant Awards	February 27, 2009
Notification to All Other Applicants	February 27 – March 2, 2009
Period of Grant Funding	March 2, 2009 – September 30, 2009

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