Project AWARE (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Aug. 23, 2023 |
| Report Number |
IF12478 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Johnathan H. Duff |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resilience in
Education) is a school-based mental health grant program
administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA) within the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS). Project AWARE is
carried out through SAMHSA’s general authorities in Title
V of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA); the program is
not explicitly authorized in statute. Project AWARE
supports activities that promote youth and adolescent
mental well-being in schools, identify school-aged youth
needing mental health services, increase access to mental
health treatment, and improve mental health awareness
among teachers and school personnel.
Project AWARE originated as part of the Obama
Administration’s 2013 Now Is the Time initiative to reduce
gun violence in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary
School shooting. Project AWARE builds upon strategies
from the preceding Safe Schools/Healthy Students initiative.
These initiatives support community partnerships in schoolbased programming on violence and drug use prevention,
safe school environments, early childhood social and
emotional learning, and training and referrals to mental
health services.
Project AWARE consists of several grants: (1) Project
AWARE State Educational Agency (State or SEA) grants,
(2) Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma
(ReCAST) grants, and (3) Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)
grants (which have operated as a separate Mental Health
Awareness Training grant program as of 2018).
