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What is the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG)? How does it align with MH-CLD?

The Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG) program gives access to funding to all U.S. states and territories. These funds are intended to provide community mental health services for two main populations.

The targeted populations of the MHBG are:

  • adults (ages 18 and older) with serious mental illness (SMI) and
  • children (ages 0-17) with serious emotional disturbances (SED). 

Mental Health Client Level Data (MH-CLD) is part of the reporting requirements of the MHBG and is aligned with the Uniform Reporting System (URS). SAMHSA's authority to collect data from MH-CLD and URS from states and territories comes from the MHBG statute. 

The block grant statutory provisions outline several requirements for states and territories, including: 

  • the need for the application to contain each funding agreement, 
  • assurances of compliance, 
  • submission of required reports, and 
  • adherence to the form and manner specified by the Secretary. 

Grantees are expected to report data on all clients served during the reporting period.