The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is offering a funding opportunity through its HIV/AIDS Bureau, Division of Policy and Data, to improve mental health and engagement in care among people living with HIV. This opportunity, titled "Improving Mental Health and Engagement in Care Among People with HIV — Evaluation Provider (HRSA-25-059)," is part of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Part F: Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program. It aims to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions designed to better serve individuals with co-occurring HIV and mental health conditions, particularly those who are out of care or experiencing barriers to retention.

This four-year initiative focuses on using implementation science to evaluate and adapt mental health interventions to increase retention in HIV care. The Evaluation Provider (EP) funded under this opportunity will work in close collaboration with an Implementation Technical Assistance Provider (ITAP), funded under a separate NOFO (HRSA-25-058). The EP’s responsibilities include designing and implementing a multisite evaluation to assess intervention effectiveness, documenting implementation barriers and facilitators, providing evaluation-related technical assistance (TA) to implementation sites, and leading efforts to analyze cost-effectiveness.

The grant is structured as a cooperative agreement with HRSA, meaning that HRSA will actively collaborate with and oversee the recipient’s work. The total available funding for FY 2025 is $1,000,000, with a maximum award of $1,000,000 per year for four years, covering a project period from August 1, 2025, to July 31, 2029. Only one award will be made under this NOFO.

Eligible applicants include public and nonprofit private entities, state and local governments, academic institutions, local health departments, nonprofit hospitals and clinics, community health centers, faith-based and community-based organizations, and Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations. Applicants must be eligible under Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Parts A - D of Title XXVI of the Public Health Service Act. Individuals and for-profit entities are not eligible.

Applications must be submitted via Grants.gov by March 18, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Pre-application informational webinars will be provided, but specific details will be updated on the HRSA website. Proposals must include an evaluation framework, a cost-analysis plan, TA strategies, and dissemination plans. Selection criteria include need assessment, response strategy, evaluation capacity, impact potential, organizational capacity, and budget justification.

HRSA will review applications based on the outlined criteria, and the expected award announcement date is August 1, 2025. The selected grantee will be required to collaborate with HRSA, the ITAP, and implementation sites, participate in national conferences, and submit annual progress and financial reports. Contact persons for programmatic inquiries are Tracy L. McClair, MSPH and Nina M. Inman, MSW, while budget-related questions can be directed to Beverly Smith, MHS, RRT.