Grants for Mental Counseling

Counseling is extremely important for anyone who is suffering from mental health issues. Grants are available to organizations and schools to help them provide mental health counseling services to the neediest populations. These grants can be used to establish new or support current mental health services, and are available to states, territories or schools.

Block Grants for Community Mental Health Services

• This grant is distributed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It is given to selected applicants in the United States and its territories for the purpose of providing mental health services to communities across the country. These funds can be used to implement the state's plan to provide help to adults with severe mental health issues or to children suffering from emotional problems. The Block Grants for Community Mental Health Services also funds evaluation activities, and provides technical assistance to help create a state plan and put it into practice. Grant amounts ranged from $50,000 to $54 million in 2010, with the average grant amount being $6.1 million.

  SAMHSA

  1 Choke Cherry Road, Room 2-1093

  Rockville, MD 20857

  240-276-1736

  samhsa.gov

Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Programs

• The U.S. Department of Education's Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Programs provides grant funds to Local Education Agencies, or LEAs, to help them create programs or enlarge counseling services in elementary and secondary schools. Priority is given to schools that have the most need or that have come up with pioneering programs. Priority also is given to programs that can be duplicated in other areas. Funded projects must provide training and engage the community and parent groups.

  Department of Education Building

  400 Maryland Ave, Southwest

  Washington, DC 20202

  800-872-5327

  ed.gov

Crisis Counseling

• This grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and it seeks to provide counseling to people who have been affected by a disaster. The goal of the Crisis Counseling grant is to provide short-term support to people suffering from grief, loss or stress due to disaster or the ensuing consequences. This grant is open to states that have been declared a disaster area by the president, and then the governor of that state must determine whether or not the state can handle the crisis. If not, the governor may request assistance from a private/public mental health agency or from the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency's regional director. Grant amounts will vary based on need.

  Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Individual Assistance

  500 C Street, Southwest, Sixth Floor

  Washington, DC 20472-3100

  202-212-1117

  fema.gov