Region 5 Systems

Region 5 Systems, a Lincoln, Nebraska-based nonprofit serving as a local government entity and prime recipient of federal grants, delivers mental health services coordination, homelessness intervention and prevention, and substance use disorder treatment and recovery support across a 16-county region in southeast Nebraska. The organization operates exclusively as a grant recipient — it holds no federal contracts and no seats on contract vehicles — and performs 64% of its recent federal work as a prime recipient with the remaining 36% flowing through subawards from state pass-through entities.

Region 5 Systems concentrates overwhelmingly in HUD and HHS grant funding. The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development dominates the award footprint at 27 awards (51% of all federal grants), anchored by recurring Continuum of Care Program (CFDA 14.267) project grants that have cycled annually since 2022. The organization has received four separate CoC awards in the past twenty-four months alone, ranging from $183,120 to $498,722 per award, each funding rapid rehousing, rental assistance, case management, supportive services, and youth homelessness prevention and intervention activities. The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration accounts for 24 awards across multiple program lines. The most substantial HHS award is a $1.499992 million five-year project grant under the Assisted Outpatient Treatment program (CFDA 93.997), awarded September 30, 2026, to implement the Outpatient Navigation and Engagement (ONE) project. ONE will serve approximately 430 adults under court-ordered outpatient commitment, establish centralized court monitoring and service coordination, train 500 professionals across at least 16 partner organizations in evidence-based practices, and target individuals with serious mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorders at risk of hospitalization, homelessness, or justice system involvement. Work extends through September 29, 2031.

Region 5 Systems operates as a subaward recipient from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services on multiple behavioral health and substance use disorder service-delivery agreements awarded as recently as July 2026. These subawards task Region 5 Systems with regional behavioral health authority responsibilities — network management, mental health and substance use disorder prevention and treatment services, opioid use disorder medication-assisted treatment access and coordination, and transitional housing support under the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) program. A single subaward from the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska relates to Nebraska Youth Suicide Prevention.

Activity has grown in the past two years. Awards per year ranged from three to four during 2022–2023, stepped to nine in 2024, settled to seven in 2025, and resumed ten in 2026. The combined dollars obligated across the footprint total $20.9 million. Only two awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating minimal near-term recompete exposure. The organization's federal funding footprint reflects a stable position as a regional behavioral health and homelessness services coordinator operating under recurrent HUD CoC renewals and HHS behavioral health program infrastructure.