The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) on Friday announced the release of new Requests for Applications (RFAs) for the Kansas Prevention Collaborative-Community Initiative (KPCCI).

Communities across Kansas are eligible to apply for one-year planning-phase grants that will help assess community prevention needs, build local capacity and plan prevention efforts. Communities that have previously completed a KPCCI planning-grant cycle will be eligible to apply for a three-year implementation-phase grant, which will support their prevention efforts and build their capacity to apply for federal Drug-Free Communities funding.

Grantees will use these funds to address the problems of underage drinking and produce sustainable system changes in their communities.

The grant initiative is designed to allow communities to address local alcohol and other drug use concerns, but also to explore how behavioral health concerns, such as suicide, problem gambling, and depression, can impact youth and adult drug use. Communities will utilize the Strategic Prevention Framework model designed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to assess their local needs, build capacity and create a plan during this planning phase.

KDADS Secretary Tim Keck recognized the importance of addressing substance abuse concerns locally and in an integrated fashion, “KDADS remains committed to supporting prevention efforts at the local level in Kansas. We lose too many of our youth to behavioral health problems tied to substance use, problem gambling and suicidal behavior.”

“These Community Initiative grants are one part of our statewide prevention system. KDADS’ Behavioral Health Services Commission works with partners to provide training, technical assistance, communication, support, and evaluation services to communities across the state. We encourage communities to get involved with behavioral health prevention efforts and become part of the Kansas Prevention Collaborative,” said Andy Brown, Prevention Program Manager at KDADS.

The communities awarded new KPCCI planning grants will receive $15,000 in prevention funding and be supported in their planning efforts by KDADS and its partners in the Kansas Prevention Collaborative (KPC). New KPCCI implementation grant recipients will receive $185,000 in prevention funding over three years. Total awards for all KPCCI grantee cohorts next year will be $602,000.

About the Kansas Prevention Collaborative

The Kansas Prevention Collaborative was created in 2015 in an effort to integrate and innovate behavioral health prevention efforts. A partnership of several different states, educational and provider agencies, the KPC’s goal is to expand prevention efforts to be more inclusive of mental health promotion, suicide prevention and problem gambling education and awareness, as well as to increase the availability of resources to adequately fund local-level prevention and promotion strategic plans. For more information, see https://www.kdads.ks.gov/commissions/behavioral-health/consumers-and-families/services-and-programs/kpc.

The KPC’s website can be viewed here: http://kansaspreventioncollaborative.org.