Concord’s school district received confirmation this week that a $1.6 million grant it previously won to fund mental health initiatives would be paid, putting to rest concerns that arose over the course of September as weeks passed with no word from the federal government.
The news came Monday night, on the brink of the federal shutdown that began Wednesday. The shutdown was not expected to disrupt delivery of the funding, said Ellen Desmond, the school district’s grants manager.
The grant is one of two that Concord had been awaiting word on. The federal government confirmed Concord schools would receive the second grant two weeks ago.
The pair of grants, which come from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, fund a collaboration with Riverbend Community Mental Health Center and a youth mental health program.
In previous years, Concord had received confirmation from SAMHSA that the grants would be funded by the end of August. This summer, the federal funding freeze and the cancellation of other grants had heightened concerns that other sources of federal education funding could be withheld, too.
The lack of confirmation led Desmond to sound the alarm and reach out to the office of Sen. Maggie Hassan for help. The office was “instrumental” in communication with the Department of Health and Human Services, Desmond said.
The two grants total $2.5 million and are part of roughly $11 million that Concord is set to receive over a five-year period.