The Southwest Behavioral Health Services Program is a grant program offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Community Partnerships. This program is designed to provide assistance in the areas of community mental health services substance abuse programs employment training programs and other community wellness and social services programs. The primary goal of the program is to improve the health of the population in areas served through grant funding. Through this grant people who live in poverty can access community mental health care and people who are struggling with drug and alcohol abuse can receive counseling treatment and support services to overcome their problems.
This grant is designed so that the agency that provides the service gets paid for the services it provides. The agency that receives the grant has to use the funds provided to serve the community. When the funds are used for the community the service providers are expected to make sure that the community has access to quality services. To be eligible to receive grant money an organization partner must prove that it meets certain requirements. These requirements include having an established workforce a community that has high rates of poverty and a population that are predominantly minority. If a program fails to meet these requirements it will not be able to apply for grant funding.
Community mental health services is just one of the areas that the Southwest Behavioral Health Services program focuses on. Other areas include housing grants drug and alcohol addiction grants employment grants and other community development grants. Each agency that receives a grant has to determine how they will use the funds. Grants cannot be used for anything but the stated purpose. Once an agency understands the purpose of the grant the focus of the organization can turn to other areas of need in the community.
