System of Care Grants

System of Care Implementation Grant Application Guidelines (pdf format)

Project SUN plans to make funding available to Kankakee County Children’s Mental Health System of Care network partners to support sustainable projects that will enhance service outcomes. The System of Care approach combines a broad array of individualized services that are community-based, family-driven, youth-guided, culturally and linguistically competent, and data-informed.

Proposed projects must use evidence-informed and promising practices and aim to reduce racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities in service delivery whenever possible. Community education and outreach projects, as well as projects that support the development of a well-prepared and coordinated mental health workforce and trained informal support service providers will receive the highest priority for funding. Projects may take the form of direct services, training, technical assistance, and coaching to further implementation of the system of care approach. Projects must be completed by July 31, 2025.

Grant applications are to be submitted to Project SUN by 5:00p Friday, November 1, 2024. If you have any questions, please contact projectsun@cfkrv.org.

System of Care Implementation Grant Procedures

Project SUN is dedicated to strengthening the children's behavioral health system of care in Kankakee County through a coordinated network of services and supports that address the needs of the whole child. Project SUN is an initiative of the Community Foundation of Kankakee River Valley and is funded through the Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation. Project SUN and the Community Foundation serve as neutral leaders with no direct affiliation with any group, religion, political, or governmental entity.

Project SUN plans to make funding available to Kankakee County System of Care network partners to support sustainable projects that will enhance our local Children’s Mental Health System of Care. Projects should focus on one (or more) of the following key areas:

Parent Engagement & Leadership Development (Examples Below)
Ensuring that families and other caregivers are full partners in all aspects of the planning and delivery of their child’s services and that family voice is represented in the policies and procedures that govern care for all children and youth in the community.
Expanding family involvement in leadership positions at the service delivery level.
Increasing parent/caregiver 'peer' provided services in the local system of care.

Youth Engagement & Leadership Development
Ensuring that young adults are full partners in all aspects of the planning and delivery of their own services and that their voice is represented in the policies and procedures that govern care for all children and youth in the community.
Implementing practices to deliver youth-guided services and/or youth involvement at the service delivery level.
Increasing youth 'peer' provided services and leadership in the local system of care.

Family Support
Reducing unmet needs of families participating in the mental health service system.
Reducing caregiver related stress for parents/primary caregivers of children with mental, emotional, and behavioral health concerns.
Reducing parental depression.
Strengthening parenting practices and caregiver-child relationships.

Coordinated Community Based Care
Expanding the array of in-home and community-based services and supports.
Providing care management or similar mechanisms at the practice level to ensure that multiple services are delivered in a coordinated and therapeutic manner and that children and their families can move through the system of services in accordance with their changing needs.
Expanding the use of an individualized wraparound approach to service delivery.
Ensuring that services are integrated at the system level, with linkages between child-serving agencies and programs across administrative and funding boundaries and mechanisms for system-level management, coordination, and integrated care management.

$8,500 in grants will be awarded by Project SUN. Only one request from a single (organization) entity will be considered for all funding categories, purposes, or amounts.

Proposals will be reviewed, evaluated, and recommended by a Grant Review Committee, consisting of volunteers from Project SUN's Executive Team. Project SUN’s Executive Team will approve the final award recommendations made by the Committee. Because Project SUN cannot or may not be able to fund all the requests it receives, the Grant Review Committee and Executive Team will rely on the following general policies and considerations for award selections.

Grant applications are to adhere strictly to the grant application instructions.
Grant awards are to be made only to those nonprofit organizations currently holding charitable 501(c)(3) classifications as designated by the Internal Revenue Service or to quasi-governmental agencies (e.g., school districts, libraries, park districts, etc.) operating within Kankakee County.
System of Care Implementation Grants will be made only to organizations who have a Community Planning Team Partnership agreement, a Network Partnership agreement, or a Collaboration agreement signed with Project SUN.
Funding to be distributed by December 31, 2024. Funds are not renewable.
Sustainability after the grant award period may receive favored judging. Please articulate commitments for sustaining your project.

What Will Project SUN Generally Not Fund?

While we encourage creativity and aim to be flexible in responding to community needs, grants will not be awarded for:

Religious purposes. This does not exclude grants to religious organizations for non-religious purposes or to facilities such as day-care centers that have non-profit status independent from a sponsoring church or religious organization.
Purchase of advertising to market for-profit services or products.
Capital or operation debt reduction; however, capital items needed for training purposes will be considered.
Political campaigns or to support attempts to influence legislative issues of any governmental body.
Multiple proposals from one organization.

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity (as defined in paragraph 249(c)(4) of title 18, United States Code), sexual orientation, marital or parental status, political affiliation, military service, physical or mental ability, or any other improper criterion be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds made available by Project SUN, and any other program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds appropriated for grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance administered by Project SUN.

How Can Organizations Apply?

Carefully read and adhere to the grant application instructions. It is important that all requested information be provided. If you have questions, you may contact the Project SUN office at projectsun@cfkrv.org or 815-304-5933. The online application is available here.

How Will System of Care Implementation Grant Applications Be Evaluated?

After initial review and screening by the Project SUN staff, the Project SUN Grant Review Committee will review and recommend applications primarily based on the following criteria:

The impact of this project to enhance Kankakee County’s Children’s Mental Health System of Care should be apparent.
The project should be currently actionable – Is the community supportive of and receptive to the initiative?
The need for and the significance of the project should be obvious and relatively simple to communicate to the community.
Successful outcomes and the impact of the project should be readily identifiable and measurable.
The receiving organization needs to demonstrate that it has the necessary experience and capacity to successfully implement and execute the project.
Projects which impact multiple key areas (Parent Engagement & Leadership Development, Youth Engagement & Leadership Development, Family Support, Coordinated Community Based Care) may receive higher priority for funding.