Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative Evidence-Based and Community-Defined Evidence Practices Round 1: Parent and Caregiver Programs and Practices Grants

As part of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released a Request for Application (RFA) on December 1, 2022 seeking proposals for the first round of grant funding totaling $30 million to scale throughout the state specified evidence-based practices (EBPs) and community-defined evidence practices (CDEPs). For the first round of EBP and CDEP grant funding, DHCS seeks proposals from various individuals, organizations, and agencies to scale parent and caregiver support and training services to parents, caregivers, and children and youth with emerging or existing mental health and/or substance use disorders.

Authorized as part of the 2021 Budget Act, CYBHI is a multi-year, multi-department package of investments that reimagines the systems that support behavioral health (BH) and wellness for all California’s children, youth, and their families. Efforts focus on promoting social and emotional well-being, preventing behavioral health challenges, and providing equitable, appropriate, timely, and accessible services for emerging and existing BH needs for children and youth ages 0-25. The $4.7 billion investment of state General Funds for CYBHI will improve access to, and the quality of, BH services for all children and youth in California, regardless of payer.   As a component of CYBHI, DHCS will scale throughout the state specified EBPs and CDEPs that are based on robust evidence for effectiveness, impact on racial equity, and long-term sustainability. By scaling EBPs and CDEPs throughout the state, DHCS aims to improve access to critical BH interventions, including those focused on prevention, early intervention and resiliency/recovery, for children and youth, with a specific focus on children and youth from Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) and LGBTQIA+ communities.   This RFA details the grant parameters and requirements for Round One: Parent and Caregiver Support Programs and Practices. In Round One, DHCS seeks to promote wellbeing for parents/caregivers and to improve their ability to support positive social and emotional development for children/youth with, or at risk of, developing BH conditions. Specifically, this grant funding round aims to: ·         Strengthen positive parenting practices (e.g., skills and strategies that help support the healthy development of children and youth). ·         Improve emotional challenges (e.g., anxiety), behavioral challenges (e.g., self-regulation, noncompliance) commonly experienced in early childhood. ·         Promote child social and emotional development. ·         Strengthen child and parent/caregiver relationships, family dynamics, and parent/caregiver involvement. ·         Improve the availability and sustainability of services for pregnant and parenting people, mothers, fathers, caregivers, and children and youth. ·         Reduce health disparities through improving equitable access to services for parents, caregivers, and children in California that are culturally and linguistically responsive to the needs of the priority populations.   Through a Third-Party Administrator (TPA), DHCS will award grants, totaling $30 million, to various entities (e.g., individual practitioners, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, BH providers, counties, plans, Tribal entities) to scale culturally relevant and responsive EBPs aimed at expanding training and supports for parents and caregivers in a variety of settings (e.g., homes, communities, schools, clinics). For Round One, the following EBPs will be scaled through competitive grant awards: ·         HealthySteps; ·         Incredible Years; ·         Parent-Child Interaction Therapy; ·         Positive Parenting Program (Triple P); and, ·         Other practices for specified populations of focus (e.g., Parents Anonymous, Effective Black Parenting Program, Strong African American Families, Positive Indian Parenting).   DHCS recognizes that the short-listed EBPs may not have been developed or normalized on populations of focus and that additional EBPs and CDEPs may be relevant to this grant round. In turn, additional practices and programs relating to Parent and Caregiver Support and Training may be considered eligible for grant funding with the submission of supplementary material demonstrating how the program or practice aligns with the objectives of this RFA. Practices and programs that are appropriate and/or can be adapted for focus populations (see “Populations of Focus” in the RFA) will be prioritized. To access the RFA for Round One Parents and Caregiver Programs and Practices Grants access this link https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/cybhi.