New State Funding Offers Schools Over Six Million Dollars in Grants for Much Needed Trauma Responsive Training

The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) announced, in early December, the availability of new grant funding funds for school districts throughout New York State to implement training and curriculum that will enhance schools’ capacity to be trauma-responsive.

At the Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York, we understand that educating students with a history of trauma and toxic stress can be challenging. We are thrilled to share a new opportunity for funding from the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) for school districts to implement trainings, programs, and curriculums that will enhance a school’s capacity to be trauma responsive; mitigating the impact of trauma on all students.

We know that:

• Students with a history of trauma, toxic stress and adversity are 32 times more likely than students without adversity to have learning and behavioral challenges in school. 
• Students who have experienced trauma and toxic stress are twice as likely to drop out of school as compared to their peers who have not had to overcome adversity.
• Students from adversity are at high risk for school avoidance, disciplinary referrals, and school failure.
• Traditional school approaches (e.g. token reward systems, behavior management, detentions, suspensions) are ineffective with students from adversity. 
• Prior to the pandemic approximately 1/3 of students in every classroom had a significant history of trauma and toxic stress, now all students have been exposed to toxic stress due to the pandemic. 

To address these challenges, the Office of Mental Health (OMH) is seeking grant applications from New York state school districts for their “Mitigating the Impact of Trauma in Schools“ initiative which will grant up to 61 separate awards (36 school districts in Upstate New York  and the rest in NYC) with a total funding of up to $100,000 annually in a proposed five year contract.

The deadline for application is 1:00pm on February 9, 2023.  You can access OMH’s Request For Applications (RFA) for this funding here: https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/rfp/2022/mitis/index.html.Each Applicant must complete the RFP in Grants Gateway 

This is a wonderful opportunity for your school district to meet the needs of all students. We are so encouraged by the state’s initiative and strongly recommend that all encourage their local school districts to apply!