: Veterans treatment courts respond to the unique circumstances of veterans entering the justice system. The first veterans treatment court was established in 2008. As of this writing, there are more than 350 in the country, with scores more being planned. The rapid proliferation of veterans treatment courts has created a heightened need for evidence-based tools to identify the criminogenic risks and clinical needs of court-involved veterans and to promote best practices such as multidisciplinary case planning and client monitoring.
The National Research Action Plan (NRAP) responding to Executive Order 13625, Improving Access to Mental Health Services for Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families (August 31, 2012), lays out a framework to ensure that Government funding agencies work together to further our knowledge and diagnostic/therapeutic capabilities with regard to post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), TBI, suicide, and related injuries by following longitudinal cohorts of Service members and Veterans. The DoD and VA ORD meet this directive through continued collaboration on and coordination of research efforts in the areas of TBI and PTSD. Additionally, recommendations from the DoD Blast Injury Research Program Coordinating Office's November 2015 International State of the Science Meeting (Does Repeated Blast- Related Trauma Contribute to the Development of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)?) included pursuing longitudinal studies to evaluate links between blast-related TBI with CTE. While a number of longitudinal efforts are ongoing, the DoD and VA seek to pursue a mechanism to collaboratively streamline and continue longitudinal studies of mTBI in active duty and Veteran populations. The objective of this effort is to solicit a single Consortium of a large longitudinal study and supporting sub-studies to analyze a large TBI cohort to include Service members, Veterans, and relevant populations.
The FY17 OPORP Orthotics and Prosthetics Outcomes Research Award (OPORA) challenges the scientific community to address which orthotic and prosthetic devices generate the best patient outcomes. Outcomes focused research is used to support evidence-based practice which guides providers in the optimization of care to Service members and Veterans with limb loss and/or limb impairment. It is expected that any research findings will also provide benefit to the general population. Applications involving multidisciplinary collaborations among academia, industry, the military Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and other Federal Government agencies are highly encouraged. The FY17 OPORP OPORA is intended to support research that evaluates the comparative effectiveness of orthotic and prosthetic devices using patient-centric outcomes for Service members and Veterans who have undergone limb amputation.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2018 Mental Health Awareness Training grants (Short Title: MHAT). The purpose of this program is to: (1) train individuals (e.g., school personnel, emergency first responders, law enforcement, veterans, armed services members and their families) to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental disorders, particularly serious mental illness (SMI) and/or serious emotional disturbance (SED); (2) establish linkages with school- and/or community-based mental health agencies to refer individuals with the signs or symptoms of mental illness to appropriate services; (3) train emergency services personnel, veterans, law enforcement, fire department personnel, and others to identify persons with a mental disorder and employ crisis de-escalation techniques; and (4) educate individuals about resources that are available in the community for individuals with a mental disorder. It is expected that this program will prepare and train others on how to appropriately and safely respond to individuals with mental disorders, particularly individuals with SMI and/or SED.
The intent of the Qualitative Research Award is to support qualitative research studies that will help researchers and clinicians better understand the experiences of individuals with SCI and thereby identify the most effective path(s) for adjusting to disability and/or improving overall quality of life, health, and functional status after SCI. This mechanism is specifically focused on military and Veteran populations in the years after SCI, examining the issues, barriers, and promoters of success for Service members during the transition from initial injury and acute care through rehabilitation and community reintegration; therefore, collaboration with military and VA researchers and clinicians is encouraged. Factors that may affect the rehabilitation and reintegration of spinal cord-injured Service members include, but are not limited to, age, gender, ethnicity, family members/caregivers, psychological health, severity of injury, type of medical care (e.g., civilian, VA, or military facility), and co-morbid conditions. A key feature of the QRA is the inclusion of military and/or Veteran populations in the years after SCI. Applicants should clearly describe how their study design, including recruitment strategies and access to appropriate populations, as applicable, will enable them to meet this intent.
The FY18 PH/TBIRP CTRR-CTA is intended to support clinical trials focused on TBI cognitive rehabilitation interventions. The award mechanism supports small, Phase I clinical trials to advance the development of knowledge and materiel products for rehabilitation and restoration of function following TBI in Service members, Veterans, and other individuals.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2013 Campus Suicide Prevention grants. The purpose of this program is to facilitate a comprehensive approach to preventing suicide in institutions of higher education. This program is designed to assist colleges and universities build a foundation for their efforts to prevent suicide attempts and completions and to enhance services for students with mental and substance use disorders that put them at risk for suicide and suicide attempts. The Campus Suicide Prevention grants support an array of campus activities to help grantees build a solid foundation for delivering and sustaining effective mental health and substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery support services. Successful applicants will provide "roadmap" of the process by which they have assessed or intend to assess suicide prevention needs and plan/implement infrastructure development strategies that meet those needs. The plan put forward in the grant application must show the linkages among needs, the proposed infrastructure development strategy, and increased system capacity that will enhance and sustain effective prevention programs and services which support SAMHSA's Prevention of Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Strategic Initiative. The plan must also address the needs of youth at high-risk identified by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention; including, but not limited to: lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT), American Indian/Alaska Natives (AVAN), military family members, and veterans.
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is issued by NIDA, the Department of Defense (DoD), Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (OASD/HA), NIAAA, and NCCAM. The purpose is to accelerate research on health promotion and prevention interventions with foci on reducing the onset and progression of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and abuse (including illicit and prescription drugs) and associated mental and physical health problems and on the promotion of health-enhancing behaviors among active-duty or recently separated (e.g., Iraq and Afghanistan) military troops, Veterans, and their families.
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is issued by NIDA, the Department of Defense (DoD), Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (OASD/HA), and NIAAA. The purpose is to accelerate research on health promotion and prevention interventions with foci on reducing the onset and progression of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and abuse (including illicit and prescription drugs) and associated mental and physical health problems and on the promotion of health-enhancing behaviors among active-duty or recently separated (e.g., Iraq and Afghanistan) military troops, Veterans, and their families.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA's) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) are accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2015 Cooperative Agreements to Benefit Homeless Individuals for States (CABHI-States) grants. The purpose of this jointly funded program is to enhance or develop the infrastructure of states and their treatment service systems to increase capacity and provide accessible, effective, comprehensive, coordinated/integrated, and evidence-based treatment services; permanent supportive housing; peer supports; and other recovery support services to: * Individuals who experience chronic homelessness and have substance use disorders, serious mental illnesses (SMI), or co-occurring mental and substance use disorders; and/or * Veterans who experience homelessness/chronic homelessness and have substance use disorders, SMI, or co-occurring mental and substance use disorders. As a result of this program, SAMHSA seeks to: 1) improve statewide strategies to address planning, coordination, and integration of behavioral health and primary care services, and permanent housing to reduce homelessness; 2) increase the number of individuals, residing in permanent housing, who receive behavioral health treatment and recovery support services; and 3) increase the number of individuals placed in permanent housing and enrolled in Medicaid and other mainstream benefits (e.g., Supplemental Security Income/Social Security Disability Insurance [SSI/SSDI], Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF], Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP]).
The PH/TBIRP Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC) Award is being offered for the first time in FY18. The overarching goal of this effort is to improve our
understanding of the impact of mild TBI (mTBI)/concussion on Service members and Veterans. The FY18 PH/TBIRP LIMBIC Award will support a Consortium conducting a single large longitudinal study and associated sub-studies within the scope of the Program Announcement/Funding Opportunity. The knowledge gained through the proposed studies will be used to inform TBI pathways of care and illuminate specific target areas to improve acute TBI care and subsequent support systems for chronic care following mTBI.
The Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) provides awards to Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native-serving institutions, and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions to promote high quality science (including sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, statistics, and other social and behavioral sciences as well as natural sciences), technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, research, and outreach. Support is available to TCUP-eligible institutions (see the Additional Eligibility subsection of Section IV of this solicitation) for transformative capacity-building projects through Instructional Capacity Excellence in TCUP Institutions (ICE-TI), Targeted STEM Infusion Projects (TSIP), TCU Enterprise Advancement Centers (TEA Centers), and Preparing for TCUP Implementation (Pre-TI). Collaborations that involve multiple institutions of higher education led by TCUP institutions are supported through Partnerships for Geoscience Education (PAGE) and Partnerships for Documentary Linguistics Education (PADLE). Finally, research studies that further the scholarly activity of individual faculty members are supported through Small Grants for Research (SGR) and Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science in Tribal Colleges and Universities (SEA-PHAGES in TCUs). Through the opportunities highlighted above, as well as collaborations with other National Science Foundation (NSF) units and other organizations, TCUP aims to increase Native individuals' participation in STEM careers and improve the quality of STEM programs at TCUP-eligible institutions. TCUP strongly encourages the inclusion of activities that will benefit veterans.
The FY18 PH/TBIRP CTRR-CTDA mechanism is being offered for the first time in FY18 and is intended to support the development of clinical trials focused on TBI rehabilitation interventions in the FY18 PH/TBIRP CTRR-CTDA focus areas described in II.A.1. Development of clinical trials focusing on rehabilitation strategies in patients with mild TBI is highly encouraged. The proposed research must be relevant to active duty Service members, Veterans, and their beneficiaries. It is expected that any research findings will also provide benefit to the general population.
The PH/TBIRP CTRR-CTDA mechanism supports the design and development of the research resources necessary to serve as a foundation for investigator-initiated clinical trials under future PH/TBIRP CTRR-Clinical Trial Award with the potential to develop knowledge and material products for rehabilitation and restoration of function following TBI. Principal Investigators (PIs) should explain how the proposed future clinical trial will inform the development, refinement, and/or revision of existing standards of care, clinical recommendations, or guidelines.
The GWIRP Qualitative Research Award mechanism is being offered for the first time in FY17. Qualitative research is a form of social inquiry that seeks to understand the human experience by exploring how people interpret and make sense of their experiences and the world in which they live. The intent of the FY17 GWIRP Qualitative Research Award is to support qualitative research studies that seek to understand the experiences, perceptions, barriers, and beliefs of Veterans suffering from GWI and those responsible for their care. Observations that drive a research idea may be derived from basic discovery, population-based studies, a clinician's firsthand knowledge of patients, or anecdotal data.
Beginning in FY2015, Congress appropriated $1,000,000 for the WWSDP to fund a competitive grants program. This program continues in FY2019 under the authority of the Defense Health Program, Operations & Maintenance, therapeutic service dog training program. The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is authorized by 10 U.S.C. 2113(g)(1)(A) to make grants to any nonprofit entity. Historically, USU has solicited grant applications from nonprofit institutions committed to connecting service dogs with service members and veterans. USU obligated $1,000,000 in FY2015, $5,000,000 in FY2016, and FY2017 and $10,000,000 in FY2018 to carry out this program. USU intends to award multiple, 12-month grants (subject to availability of funding) to eligible nonprofit organizations to continue this program in FY2019.
USU plans to obligate approximately $10,000,000 in grants to successful applicants for the WWSDP in FY2019. The number of grants to be awarded and the amount of funding per grant is to be determined based upon the quality of the applications. On average, since the Program's inception, USU awarded grants to 21 Recipients with an average funding amount of approximately $251,500 per award with awards ranging from $45,000 to $586,800. Funding provided through this program is not intended to finance new programs or initiatives, but to support the operations of existing programs. The planned period of performance for the FY2019 WWSDP is June 2019 through June 2020. Past Recipients of WWSDP grants are eligible to apply and compete for FY2019 WWSDP grants; however, applications for renewal or supplementation of existing awards will not be considered.
The MBRP Clinical Translational Research Award (CTRA) is intended to support clinical
research projects that are likely to have a major impact on therapy by applying promising and
well-founded laboratory, preclinical, or clinical research findings to the care of the burn-injured
patient.
Burns have comprised some 5%-20% of the casualties sustained in post-World War II conflicts.1
Potential future conflicts may cause a rise in the number of burn injuries sustained by Service
members and the general public should those conflicts occur in rural areas, austere combat zones, and in mass casualty events, whereby medical resources are limited and/or access to medical care is delayed for hours, days, or weeks. In order to prepare the military and the Nation for such potential future conflicts, the FY19/20 MBRP is soliciting research to provide burn care
solutions closer to the point of injury for the pre-hospital setting and for a prolonged field care
scenario.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defines prolonged field care (PFC) as field
trauma care extended beyond doctrinal timelines until the patient can be transported from the
point of injury to an appropriate level of care. PFC has been identified as a high priority
capability gap across the Army and other Services. Additional information regarding PFC can
be found in the following articles, Prolonged Field Care: Beyond the 'Golden Hour'2 and
Prolonged Field Care the New Normal says Army, MRMC Brass.3
Although encouraged, applications submitted to the FY19/20 MBRP CTRA are not required to
address PFC. However, the proposed research must be relevant to active duty Service members,
Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the American public.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2018 Statewide Consumer Network Program grants (Short Title: SCN). The purpose of this program is to improve efforts to address the needs of adults with serious mental illness (SMI) by developing and/or expanding peer support services, peer leadership, and peer engagement strategies statewide. The population of focus is adults with SMI, including those who are underserved and under-represented (e.g., consumers from ethnic, racial, and cultural minority groups); veterans; individuals who are chronically homeless; individuals with co-occurring disorders (COD) ; sexual orientation and gender identity minorities; and individuals who have been involved in the criminal justice system. It is expected that this program will increase access to and quality of mental health services for adults with SMI; increase the sustainability of consumer-operated organizations; and enhance state capacity and infrastructure to support the recovery of adults with SMI and their families. The SCN grant program builds upon prior work of SAMHSA to establish recovery-oriented, consumer-driven services for adults with SMI.
The intent of the FY19 FITBIR Analysis Award is to leverage this data to identify actionable insights for the diagnosis, management, and treatment of TBI. The proposed research must be relevant to active duty Service members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the American public.
The anticipated total costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY19 JPC-6/CCCRP PH/TBI FITBIR Analysis Award will not exceed $750,000. Refer to Section II.D.5, Funding Restrictions, for detailed funding information.
The JPC-6/CCCRP expects to allot approximately $3M of the FY19 PH/TBIRP appropriation to fund approximately 4 FITBIR Analysis Award applications. Funding of applications received is contingent upon the availability of Federal funds for this program as well as the number of applications received, the quality and merit of the applications as evaluated by scientific and programmatic review, and the requirements of the Government. Funds to be obligated on any award resulting from this funding opportunity will be available for use for a limited time period based on the fiscal year of the funds. It is anticipated that awards made from this FY19 FITBIR Analysis Award funding opportunity will be funded with FY19 funds, which will expire for use on September 30, 2025
Qualitative research is a form of social inquiry that seeks to understand the human experience by exploring how people interpret and make sense of their experiences and the world in which they live. The intent of the FY18 GWIRP Qualitative Research Award is to support qualitative research studies that seek to understand the experiences, perceptions, barriers, and beliefs of Veterans suffering from GWI and those responsible for their care. Observations that drive a research idea may be derived from basic discovery, population-based studies, a clinician's firsthand knowledge of patients, or anecdotal data.
The mission of the Infinite Hero Foundation is to combat the most difficult front-line issues-mental and physical-facing returning military heroes and their families. The Foundation provides grants of up to $100,000 to nonprofit organizations offering innovative and effective programs or treatments to active duty service members, veterans, and/or military families for service-related mental and physical injuries. Grants must be applied directly to program costs and cannot be used for fundraising or administrative overhead. Letters of interest are due July 1, 2020; invited grant applications must be submitted by September 15, 2020. Visit the Foundation's website to learn more about the grant program.