CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
August 18, 2003, Vol. 03-72

SAMHSA RELEASES TRAINING MANUAL FOR DEVELOPING COMPETITIVE GRANT APPLICATIONS

In an effort to provide new grant applicants with the guidance needed to prepare competitive grant applications, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released the manual, "Developing Competitive SAMHSA Grant Applications: A Participant Manual."

"SAMHSA recognizes that grassroots operations often are in the best position to make healthy changes in their neighborhoods," said SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie. "We want to award grants to a variety of projects. Therefore, it is critical that new applicants have the skills and guidance to prepare competitive applications. We anticipate that this manual will be particularly helpful to community-based organizations, faith-based organizations and community groups."

The Participant Manual was developed for use in workshop settings, and also to be used as a reference guide. The manual covers topics on the following:

• Deciding on the appropriateness of applying for a grant
• Assembling and maintaining current project and community data for preplanning ideas
• Review of funding announcements
• Assembling resources and a writing team
• Writing applications that respond to the application outline and to grant review criteria
• Barriers to competitive grant applications

The Participant Manual is designed to help all potential applicants including community and faith-based organizations develop comprehensive, competitive federal grant applications.

The full document is available online at www.samhsa.gov and is available from SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 1-800-729-6686 and SAMHSA's National Mental Health Clearinghouse at 1-800-789-2647. The Participant Manual offers both workshop assistance and take-home reference materials. Comments about the manual's content are welcome. Send suggestions and comments via email to TAManual@samhsa.gov.

SAMHSA, a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead federal agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment and mental health services in the United States.