Richmond Behavioral Health Authority

Richmond Behavioral Health Authority, a nonprofit behavioral health and homelessness services recipient in Richmond, Virginia, holds 29 federal grants as prime recipient (76% of its award footprint) and serves as sub-recipient on nine state and federal grant pass-throughs, with $70.9 million combined dollars obligated across 38 awards. The organization does not hold federal prime contracts; its federal engagement is entirely grant-funded, reflecting its mission of direct service delivery in mental health, substance use treatment, crisis intervention, and housing support for vulnerable populations.

Richmond Behavioral Health Authority's grant portfolio concentrates heavily in three federal grantor agencies, accounting for 84% of awards. The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care Program (CFDA 14.267) funds homelessness intervention, with ten HUD awards including a $371,502 project grant (November 2025–October 2026) and a $301,540 award (November 2024–October 2025) supporting rapid rehousing, transitional housing, supportive services, and homeless management information systems in Richmond. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) funds behavioral health expansion and treatment across nineteen combined awards; representative work includes a five-year SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) project awarded September 2024 for $1.1 million annually through September 2029 serving youth and adults with substance use and co-occurring disorders in school and clinic settings, a parallel CARE (Creating Access Through Recovery & Engagement) project for pregnant and postpartum women with substance use disorders (September 2023–September 2028), and a Certified Community Behavioral Health Center Expansion Initiative award (September 2022–September 2026) expanding primary care and behavioral health services. The Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance funds three awards supporting criminal justice collaboration, including a Circuit Court Behavioral Health Docket enhancement (October 2022–September 2026) and the RVA Co-Responder Team (October 2021–September 2025) pairing police officers, clinicians, and peer specialists to serve high-utilizer adults with mental health and substance use disorders.

Richmond Behavioral Health Authority also receives sub-recipient pass-through funding from the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, which in recent months (April and March 2026) distributed additional opioid crisis response and substance use disorder program development funds, and from the Virginia Department of Social Services (October 2024) for employment advancement services. Housing-focused case management and short-term housing for homeless families flow through multiple sub-awards, including ongoing Residential Support for Homeless Families programs administered via partnership agencies (HomeAgain, Salvation Army, Housing Families First, YWCA) with supportive services extending up to six months post-housing.

Activity has moderated in recent years—five awards in 2022, three in 2023, four in 2024—with two awards in 2025 and four in 2026 year to date. Four awards complete in the next twenty-four months, presenting modest recompete exposure. The organization's capability profile centers on evidence-based behavioral health treatment (medication-assisted treatment, trauma-informed care, motivational interviewing), crisis intervention training for law enforcement, mental health first-aid community training, homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing, and integrated primary care with behavioral health services, serving predominantly low-income, African American populations with serious mental illness, substance use disorders, and co-occurring conditions across Richmond's service area.