Two Requests for Proposals (RFPs) have been issued to support the creation of one new substance use prevention coalition to address the unmet needs in a neighborhood of Boston and to support existing community coalitions in need of funding to strengthen their youth substance use prevention efforts.

There is an urgent need in the City of Boston to improve coordination and implement city-wide strategies to address substance use prevention. It is also essential to examine patterns of substance use differing by race, ethnicity, age, class and gender, which underscores the need to address health disparities, particularly racial and ethnic inequities.

In 2017, Massachusetts General Hospital, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) and community stakeholders sat down to determine how best to support substance use prevention efforts across the City of Boston.

It was determined that a strategic plan was needed to guide efforts around youth substance use prevention in the city of Boston. And, once completed, Mass General would invest more than $1.3 million* in community initiatives based on recommendations from the City of Boston’s Youth Substance Use Strategic Plan. In collaboration with an oversight committee and community advisors, it was decided that the funds would be used to:

  • Establish and lead a coordinated youth substance use prevention strategy to reach all neighborhoods in Boston
  • Engage academic institutions, foundations and the private sector in strengthening prevention efforts by building the capacity for rigorous, neighborhood-specific data collection to inform quality improvement efforts and identify emerging trends

Two Requests for Proposals (RFPs) have been issued:

  1. A total of $500,000 over 5+ years to support the creation of one new substance use prevention coalition to meet the unmet needs in a neighborhood of Boston. Click here for the complete RFP with submission criteria and instructions.
  2. A total of $600,000 over 3 years to support existing community coalitions in need of funding to strengthen their youth substance use prevention efforts. Click here for the complete RFP with submission criteria and instructions.

Budget forms A and B, which are required attachments to complete either RFP, can be downloaded here

Please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions for additional information.

Questions can be submitted to mghdon@partners.org. Please note that the deadline to send in questions is Friday, August 3rd, 2018

All questions submitted, together with their responses, shall be posted to this website by Friday, August 10th, 2018.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, August 24th, 2018, at noon.

Read the full press release here.

*$1,316,714 actual amount of Determination of Need (DoN) funding.