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This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) – Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PMHCA) – New Area Expansion program.

The purpose of this program is to promote behavioral health integration into pediatric primary care by supporting pediatric mental health care telehealth access programs. State or regional networks of pediatric mental health care teams will provide tele-consultation, training, technical assistance, and care coordination support for pediatric primary care providers (PCPs) to diagnose, treat, and refer children with behavioral health conditions. Successful recipients will focus on achieving health equity related to racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities in access to care, especially in rural and other underserved areas. PMHCA advances HRSA strategic plan goals to improve access to quality health services, foster a health care workforce able to address current and emerging needs, achieve health equity, and enhance population health.

For the purposes of this funding opportunity, telehealth is defined as the use of electronic information and telecommunication technologies to support and promote long-distance clinical consultation, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration. Permitted telehealth modalities between providers include (but are not limited to): real-time video, telephonic communications, store-and-forward imaging, and mobile health (mHealth) applications.

The FY 2021 ARP-PMHCA – New Area Expansion Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) released on May 19, 2021. HRSA made 24 awards under that announcement. The FY 2022 funding opportunity will support up to an additional 10 awards to continue the expansion of the program into all 50 states.

View HRSA Announcement!