Sources of Strength Project: Rural Health Transformation Funding Application

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) seeks to address behavioral health in rural Wisconsin by expanding Sources of Strength (SOS), a best practice, strength-based, suicide prevention and mental health program. SOS is designed to prevent negative outcomes while promoting wellbeing, help-seeking, resilience, healthy coping, and belonging among youth. This funding will support an educational organization with statewide reach to coordinate SOS train-the-trainer (T4T) certification for school staff in school districts serving rural and or semi-rural communities and support long-term sustainability of SOS in Wisconsin schools. Applicants may apply to multiple Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) funding opportunities for which their organizations are eligible.

Key dates

• Application release: July 29, 2026  
• Application submission due: August 5, 2026 
• Estimated date for award notification: August 2026 

Background

The Wisconsin Rural Health Transformation Program is focused on improving healthcare access and health outcomes in rural communities across Wisconsin. This funding opportunity is part of the Rural Health Transformation Program, a federal funding opportunity provided to states through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. DHS received a first-year award from CMS  for $203,670,005.21 to invest in rural capacity, sustainability, and innovation. The program aims to improve access to care through three initiatives: strengthening the healthcare workforce, enhancing technology innovation, and cultivating coordinated care partnerships. Through collaboration among healthcare providers, public health agencies, and community-based organizations, the program seeks to improve health and well-being in rural communities.  

Rural residents in Wisconsin experience worse behavioral health outcomes than urban residents. In rural communities, where geographic isolation and limited access to behavioral health services are common, strong personal and community resources can play an important role in supporting youth mental well-being. Through this funding opportunity, the State of Wisconsin aims to address these challenges by leveraging evidence-informed frameworks focused on connections and fostering resilience within Wisconsin’s rural communities. 

Purpose

This grant funding opportunity is intended to address behavioral health needs in rural and semi-rural communities by expanding Sources of Strength (SOS), a best practice, strength-based, suicide prevention and mental health program. SOS is designed to prevent negative outcomes while promoting wellbeing, help-seeking, resilience, healthy coping, and belonging. Through this funding, the State of Wisconsin aims to expand the program in rural and semi-rural schools across Wisconsin.  

Program requirements

Organizations receiving this award will be expected, at a minimum, to perform the following activities: 

• Provide services that benefit people living in rural and semi-rural areas of Wisconsin, outside of metropolitan hubs. See Addendum Exhibit 1 for a definition of rural counties. 
• Coordinate, fund, and host SOS T4T certification for school staff within multiple school districts, serving a variety of rural and semi-rural locations statewide.  
• Provide technical assistance to support the implementation of SOS in schools throughout rural and semi-rural areas of Wisconsin. 
• Convene a community of practice supporting rural and semi-rural schools that implement SOS.  
• Partner with at least three rural/semi-rural schools or school districts in each region of the state to expand implementation of SOS in Wisconsin. 
• Attend regular grantee calls with DHS staff. 
• Provide quarterly and annual progress reports related to strategy implementation and grant deliverables. 
• Provide input on changes or improvements to strategy implementation as appropriate. 

Preference will be given to organizations that:  

• Demonstrate knowledge of and experience with supporting implementation of SOS programming in schools, especially rural or semi-rural schools.  
• Demonstrate previous experience implementing and monitoring suicide prevention programs for youth.

Eligible applicants

• Applicants must provide services in Wisconsin outside of Milwaukee County and have experience serving rural or semi-rural communities (see Addendum Exhibit 1 for a definition of semi-rural and rural counties). 
• Regional or state educational organizations in Wisconsin with the ability to work with school districts statewide.  
• Prior experience supporting Wisconsin schools implementing SOS programming. 

Application submission

This application must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on August 5, 2026. Only complete applications submitted through this survey will be considered.  

Letters of support from project partners are encouraged but not required. Letters of support can be uploaded at the end of the application. It is recommended that applicants use a word processing program to complete the sections of the application to ensure word limits are observed for each question and pasted into the online submission format. Do not include personally identifiable information (PII) or protected health information (PHI) in your responses. 

Applications must include:  

• Responses to the statements in the Application Questions section. Any information beyond the word count limits will not be read, reviewed, or scored.  
• Proposed budget and justification  

The budget, justification, and letters of support do not count toward the narrative response word limit.  

Applicants should reach out directly to DHS at DHSRuralHealth@dhs.wisconsin.gov for questions regarding technical difficulties with the application submission process.

This program is supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $203,670,005.21 with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.