During the 2019 legislative session, the Behavioral Health Division was allocated funds to provide behavioral health services and support grants to school districts to address student behavioral health needs. The appropriation for this effort can be reviewed in Section 23 of Senate Bill 2012.
School districts and Special Education Units that billed Medicaid for School-Based services during the previous school year are eligible to apply for School Grant Funding. Eligibility amounts are based on the previous school year's Medicaid Match received by the Department of Public Instruction.
The 2024-2025 Behavioral Health School Grant application is open. Applications are due no later than March 31, 2025.
Apply
The Behavioral Health School Grant application is now open for the 2024-2025 school year. Please visit the "Eligibility" tab to determine your school district or special education unit's allowable Grant dollars. Please see the forms section of the BHSG tabs below for the application and other applicable forms. If you have any questions, or to send a completed application, contact Kayla Stastny at kastastny@nd.gov.
Guidance
Examples of How Grant Funds Can be Utilized
Students without insurance
- Clinical behavioral health services for individuals not covered by Medicaid or other private insurance.
Students with insurance, but there are service/support gaps in coverage
- Individuals who are insured, but insurance doesn’t cover required clinical or support services.
- Transportation costs when a child/family is unable to access transportation or funding for transportation to and from services.
Prevention and early intervention services and supports
- Prevention and early intervention (including emotional wellbeing promotion curriculums), to be reviewed and approved by the Behavioral Health Division prior to implementation.
- Early intervention screenings and assessments (when not reimbursable through other means).
Examples of How Grant Funds CANNOT be Utilized
- Any strategy related to or utilizing seclusion and/or restraint.
- To pay for behavioral health services that are reimbursable through a third-party payer (Sanford, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Medicaid, Medicaid Expansion, etc.)
- To pay for services or supports that are experimental or not evidence-based/best practices.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have any questions, please check out our frequently asked questions.
Current Efforts
As of March 17, 2025, 20 eligible School Districts and/or Special Education Units have applied for funding totaling over $4,200,000 for the 24-25 school year. They include:
- Bismarck
- Carrington
- Dickinson
- Fargo
- Grand Forks
- GST Special Education Unit
- James River Special Education Cooperative
- Jamestown
- Lake Region Special Education Unit
- Mandan
- Minot
- Oliver-Mercer Special Education Unit
- Rural Cass Special Education Unit
- Sheyenne Valley Special Education Unit
- Souris Valley Special Education Unit
- South Valley Special Education Unit
- Upper Valley Special Education Unit
- Wahpeton
- West Fargo
- Wil-Mac Special Education Unit
Training and Technical Assistance
For any training or technical assistance needs, please reach out to Kayla Stastny at kastastny@nd.gov or (701) 328-8982.
Eligibility Tools
| Unit | 2024 - 2025 Total Eligibility |
| Bismarck | $705,116.28 |
| Carrington | $32,151.51 |
| Dickinson | $101,917.30 |
| Fargo | $642,287.42 |
| Fessenden-Bowdon | $13,088.59 |
| Grand Forks | $352,049.14 |
| GST Special Education Cooperative | $70,386.35 |
| James River Special Education Cooperative | $22,399.20 |
| Jamestown | $162,018.92 |
| Kensal | $667.44 |
| Lake Region Special Education Unit | $154,139.23 |
| Mandan | $199,486.06 |
| Medina | $2,884.63 |
| Minot | $337,868.87 |
| New Rockford-Sheyenne | $17,768.34 |
| Oberon | $664.64 |
| Oliver-Mercer Special Education Unit | $11,487.14 |
| Rural Cass Special Education Unit | $119,765.48 |
| Sheyenne Valley Special Education Unit | $41,752.14 |
| Souris Valley Special Education Unit | $72,983.11 |
| South Valley Special Education Unit | $142,183.27 |
| Upper Valley Special Education Unit | $83,395.62 |
| Wahpeton | $159,162.18 |
| West Fargo | $933,579.55 |
| Wil-Mac | $104,602.43 |