BROOMFIELD, Colo. — The Colorado Department of Agriculture has opened up the application period for a new grant that aims to support access to mental and behavioral health services in rural communities. The Department received an appropriation of $200,000 during the 2022 legislative session to support mental health services for farmers, ranchers, agricultural workers, and their communities.
“Organizations across Colorado are doing amazing work to destigmatize mental health and help our ag producers cope with everything from farm stress due to drought or rising costs to substance abuse,” said Kristen Boysen, Drought & Climate Specialist and program manager for the mental health grant. “Mental health is directly tied to the overall health of our rural and agricultural communities and this funding will help bolster and expand this work to impact more Coloradans.”
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 32 percent of Coloradans reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder in 2021. Additionally, rural youth in Colorado are twice as likely to die by suicide, according to Colorado Rural Health. Rural communities often feel the impacts of mental health even more acutely than urban and suburban communities because resources are more limited in those areas. CDA’s grant objectives are to increase awareness of mental & behavioral health services and resources in Colorado, provide or help facilitate mental & behavioral health services, and continue the efforts to destigmatize mental health.
CDA is looking to Colorado’s community of mental and behavioral health providers to think creatively about ways to reach rural communities and expand information about and access to services. Grant requests should be between $25,000-$100,000 and should include a plan for how to fully expend the grant funding by the end of the state’s fiscal year, on June 30, 2023.
The grant application period will be open until November 7, and applications should be submitted online*. Submitted applications will be reviewed by a panel and approved by the Agricultural Commission.
This opportunity is the second mental health services grant offered by CDA. Since 2021, CDA has managed a $500,000 grant program funded by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Applicants can learn more about this grant opportunity at ag.colorado.gov/rural-mental-
–Colorado Department of Agriculture