Second grant application cycle opens for the Sí Texas Project

Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc's (MHM) Sí Texas: Social Innovation for a Healthy South Texas project is opening a second cycle grant competition to further our commitment to the Sí Texas Project service area and to identify innovative, local solutions that improve physical and behavioral health. This competition will run April 1, 2015, through May 29, 2015, 5 p.m. CDT, and grants awarded during the second cycle will begin Aug. 1, 2015.

MHM seeks applications from organizations that seek to improve and expand delivery of integrated behavioral health services in the Sí Texas service area (Starr, Hidalgo, Willacy, Cameron, Webb, Duval, Jim Wells, Kleberg, Brooks, Kenedy, Zapata and Jim Hogg counties). Eligible organizations provide services in the Sí Texas service area, propose an evidence-based integrated behavioral health intervention, are nonprofit or public entities, and meet the organizational budget and level of evidence minimums.

MHM will provide technical assistance to assist with the application process, including conference calls, webinars, office hours with project and FAQs.

To demonstrate evidence of the effectiveness of their proposed project, applicants must establish their incoming "level of evidence" in their applications. A "preliminary" level of evidence is an eligibility requirement, and MHM's official determination of the level of evidence will affect the maximum award size for which an applicant is eligible.

Levels of Evidence: Guidance for Sí Texas Applicants from Methodist Healthcare Ministries on Vimeo.

The second cycle competition is the result of MHM's commitment to several Sí Texas goals. Since the first cycle competition, which ran from Oct. 31, 2014 to Feb. 6, 2015 will not award the anticipated $6.5 million per year, we seek to identify additional high-performing organizations in the second cycle competition and mobilize this full amount to improve health in the Sí Texas service area. In addition, we seek to engage more fully all 12 counties in the Sí Texas service area. The second cycle will include targeted launch efforts in counties that are underrepresented by first cycle Sí Texas projects. Finally, we recognize that the financial award requirements of the first cycle competition excluded organizations with smaller budgets. Because many innovative solutions originate from the grassroots level, we are taking steps to engage these organizations in the second cycle.

Second cycle Sí Texas grantees will join the first cycle of grantees in serving their communities by providing integrated behavioral health services, receiving and providing capacity building services through peer learning networks and evaluation collaboratives and participating in rigorous evaluation to build evidence of the effectiveness of their projects.

To learn more about the Sí Texas Project or to apply, visit www.mhm.org/sitexas.