Health and Human Services awards grant funding to expand services that support children’s behavioral health

Behavioral Health

North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS) announced 21 recipients of the Children's Behavioral Health Service Grants through the Behavioral Health Division's System of Care initiative. The funding will support the implementation of community-based, youth and family driven and culturally responsive services and supports for children, adolescents and young adults with behavioral health conditions and their families. HHS will award approximately $3.4 million through September 2025.

"We are excited about the diversity of proposed projects and implementation in both urban and rural parts of the system of care regions," said HHS Behavioral Health Division Clinical Administrator, Katie Houle. "The System of Care grant awards mark an important milestone in empowering local and regional innovation to address service gaps for children with serious emotional disturbances and their families."

 The grant recipients include school districts, private behavioral health providers, private youth-serving agencies, family-run organizations, tribal entities and community groups. The proposed projects include the expansion of Title IV prevention programs and Medicaid 1915(i) services, staff training, implementation of a variety of evidence-based practices and establishing positions for care coordination and family engagement.

The following agencies will receive funding for their proposed projects. For more information about funding awarded and the proposed projects, please visit the System of Care website, hhs.nd.gov/behavioral-health/system-of-care.

• Belcourt Education Resource Center, Belcourt, ND
• Belcourt School District, Belcourt, ND
• Bismarck Public Schools, Bismarck, ND
• Community Options, Bismarck, Mandan, Devils Lake, ND and surrounding regions
• Dakota Children's Advocacy Center, Bismarck, Mandan, ND and surrounding region
• Family Services Network, Bismarck, Mandan, Devils Lake, ND and surrounding regions
• Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, Bismarck, Mandan, Devils Lake, ND and surrounding regions
• Fort Totten School District, Fort Totten, ND
• Healing Connection Behavioral Health Center, Dunseith, ND
• Indigenized Behavioral Healing, Belcourt, ND
• Kids Therapy Center Bismarck, Mandan, ND and surrounding region
• Langdon Prairie Health, Langdon, ND
• Mandan Public Schools, Mandan, ND
• Mashkiki Wellness, Belcourt, ND
• Native Inc., Bismarck, Mandan, ND and surrounding region
• Nexus-PATH Family Healing, Bismarck, Mandan, ND and surrounding region
• Seeds of Eden, Ft Yates, ND and surrounding region
• Solutions Behavioral Healthcare Professionals, Bismarck, Mandan, ND and surrounding region
• Spirit Lake Behavioral Health, Fort Totten, ND
• USpireND - Healthy Families of North Dakota, Devils Lake, ND and surrounding region
• Youthworks of North Dakota, Bismarck, Mandan, ND and surrounding region

The funding opportunity is made possible through the System of Care grant provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The use of funds will be guided by SAMHSA grant requirements.  

System of Care Regions

The funding opportunity was made available to the System of Care geographic areas including the ten counties served by West Central Human Service Center in Bismarck and six counties served by the Lake Region Human Service Center in Devils Lake. These counties include Benson, Burleigh, Cavalier, Eddy, Emmons, Grant, Kidder, McLean, Mercer, Morton, Oliver, Ramsey, Rolette, Sheridan, Sioux and Towner. The geographic areas include four tribal nations: The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Spirit Lake Nation, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation.   

System of Care Initiative  

North Dakota Health and Human Services was awarded a four-year SAMHSA System of Care Expansion and Sustainability Grant to enhance mental health outcomes for children and youth in September 2022. The grant serves children, youth and young adults, birth through age 21 and their families.  

The purpose of the grant is to build and expand community-based behavioral health services and supports for children and youth at risk for or with serious emotional disturbances and their families. North Dakota has two key goals for the System of Care grant:

1. To increase access to high-quality and culturally appropriate services and supports for children with serious emotional disturbances and their families in the identified regions.  
2. To develop a sustainable infrastructure to support the System of Care approach for North Dakota children with serious emotional disturbances and their families.  

For more information about the System of Care initiative, visit hhs.nd.gov/behavioral-health/system-of-care or contact Katie Houle, [email protected], (701) 328-8832, 711 (TTY).