State Education Agency

Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education)

The purpose of Project AWARE is to develop a sustainable infrastructure for schoolbased mental health programs and services. It is expected that the recipient will build a collaborative partnership that includes the State Education Agency, the Local Education Agency, Tribal Education Agency, the State Mental Health Agency, community-based providers of behavioral health care services, school personnel, community organizations, families, and school-aged youth. Based on a public health model, this partnership will implement mental health related promotion, awareness, prevention, intervention, and resilience activities to ensure that students have access and are connected to appropriate and effective behavioral health services. SAMHSA expects that this program will promote the healthy social and emotional development of school-aged youth and prevent youth violence in school settings.

Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Stronger Connections Grant Program)

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act provided $1 billion under this program to remain available through FY25 for programs and activities that coordinate with community-based services and programs, promote parent involvement, and foster safe, healthy, supportive, and drug-free environments that support student academic achievement.

21st Century Community Learning Centers

This formula grant program supports the creation of community learning centers that provide academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children, particularly students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools.

American Rescue Plan’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER)

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) included nearly $122 billion in resources for state education agencies and local education agencies through the ESSER Fund. State and local education agencies can use these funds for a range of evidence-based strategies that reduce violence and increase public safety, including community violence intervention (CVI) programs; summer and year-round programs that provide job training and work-based learning experience for students, including formerly incarcerated students, and disconnected youth who live in communities most impacted by high levels of violence; summer education and enrichment programs, including summer camp; wraparound services—such as medical care, mental health and substance use disorder care, and nutrition support—for students and their families, including hiring support personnel for schools; and more.

National Center on Safe and Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE)

This technical assistance resource provides training and technical assistance to schools, school districts, and educational agencies to support efforts aimed at creating and nurturing safe and supportive learning environments.

Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance Center

This technical assistance resource is the nation’s higher ed and K-12 school safety, security, and emergency management and preparedness hub for information and services (e.g., guidance, training, tools, resources). the walk-through and safety inspection of campus and buildings.

Federal Partners in Student Health Resource Hub

This technical assistance resource serves as a portal where K-12 schools, school districts, state education agencies, and other stakeholders can access high quality federal and federally supported information, resources, and research that support student physical and mental health.

Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youths Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk

This formula grant program allocates funds to State educational agencies for services to help provide education continuity for children and youth in State-run neglected and delinquent institutions for juveniles, community day programs, and adult correctional institutions, so that these children and youth can make successful transitions to school or employment after they are released.

SASI (Supporting America’s School Infrastructure)

This competitive grant program provides grants to increase the capacity of states to support high-need local education agencies and schools in leveraging other resources to improve school facilities and environments.

Trauma Recovery Demonstration Grant Program

This program provides competitive grants to state education associations to support model programs that enable a student from a low-income family who has experienced trauma that negatively affects the student’s educational experience to access the trauma-specific mental-health services from the provider that best meet the student’s needs.

School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program

This program provides competitive grants to State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and LEA consortia to increase the number of credentialed mental health services providers providing school-based mental health services to students in LEAs with demonstrated need.

School Climate Transformation Grant—State Educational Agency Program

This program provides competitive grants to State educational agencies to develop, enhance, or expand systems of support for, and technical assistance to, local educational agencies and schools implementing an evidence-based, multi-tiered behavioral framework for improving behavioral outcomes and learning conditions for all students.

Luke and Alex School Safety Act – SchoolSafety.gov

The Luke and Alex School Safety Act, which was part of BSCA, created a Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Evidence-based Practices within DHS (SchoolSafety.gov) that publishes evidence-based practices and recommendations to improve school safety for use by states, local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, state and local law enforcement agencies, health professionals, and the general public. Schoolsafety.gov also provides a grant tracker for school safety grant funds.

Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program

This program provides competitive grants to support and demonstrate innovative partnerships to train school-based mental health service providers for employment in schools and local educational agencies.

Grants to States for School Emergency Management Grant Program

This program provides competitive grants to State educational agencies to increase their capacity to assist local educational agencies by providing training and technical assistance in the development and implementation of high-quality school emergency operations plans including plans focusing on violence prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.

Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety

The Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety provides technical assistance to support States and school districts in the implementation of social and emotional learning evidence-based programs and practices.