Gambling Disorder Prevention Services Grant

The Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery, is offering the Gambling Disorder Prevention Services funding opportunity to expand gambling disorder screening, prevention, community outreach, and recovery support throughout Illinois. The Department is seeking organizations that can reach individuals with gambling disorders, their families, people at elevated risk, and the general community. Organizations with prior experience coordinating gambling disorder engagement and screening events are preferred, although new organizations and applicants without prior gambling disorder experience will be considered. The program also emphasizes outreach to populations and areas disproportionately affected by gambling disorder because of geographic, demographic, cultural, or economic factors and supports the Department's broader goals related to equity, racial justice, diversity, and inclusive service delivery. Approximately $3,500,000 in State funding is expected to be available, with approximately 15 to 25 awards anticipated. Individual awards are expected to range from $50,000 to $300,000. Cost sharing or matching is not required. Indirect costs are allowed and applicable indirect cost rates must be approved through the Illinois Indirect Cost Rate Election System. Pre-award costs are not allowable. Subcontractor agreements and subcontractor budgets must receive Department pre-approval and be kept on file, and the primary grantee remains responsible for subcontractor performance and monitoring. Proposed budgets must be sufficiently detailed and justified, entered in the Community Service Agreement system, electronically signed by the applicant's Chief Executive Officer and/or Chief Financial Officer, and approved before a grant agreement can be issued. Eligible applicants are private or public, nonprofit or for-profit entities, including local governments, academic institutions, and other community-based organizations. Applicants must have a physical office or staff located in Illinois and may submit no more than one application. Applicants must be registered with the State of Illinois, complete required Grantee Portal information, and be prequalified before the application deadline. Applicants generally must have an active SAM.gov registration and valid Unique Entity Identifier, be in good standing with the Illinois Secretary of State when applicable, and not appear on the Illinois Stop Payment List, SAM.gov Exclusion List, or Medicaid Sanctions List. Successful applicants remain subject to pre-award qualification and risk review requirements. Renewal or supplementation applications for existing projects are not eligible to compete with applications for new State awards, although successful applicants under this NOFO may later be eligible for two discretionary one-year renewals based on appropriation, satisfactory performance, timely reporting, and continued good standing. Funded organizations are expected to provide evidence-based gambling screening, prevention, support, recovery, education, and outreach activities and to collaborate with clinical providers, the gambling helpline, public awareness and training providers, casinos, sports betting organizations, schools, colleges, universities, and other community partners as applicable. Required activities include use of IDHS/DBHR-approved screening and assessment tools, warm referrals, recovery support linkages, dissemination of responsible gambling and treatment materials, community education, staff training, culturally competent services, confidentiality protections, monthly reporting, and an annual community outreach plan. The outreach plan must address the Gift Responsibly Campaign in November and December and Problem Gambling Awareness Month in March. Performance expectations include spending at least 95 percent of the contracted budget, participating in statewide awareness activities, submitting required monthly, quarterly, and annual documentation, screening or referring at least five individuals for every $500 of funding, providing at least 24 annual community presentations, distributing helpline materials at at least 48 sites, and, when applicable, presenting prevention curriculum to schools. The application package must be submitted electronically and include the Program Narrative, Uniform Application for State Grant Assistance, Grantee Conflict of Interest Disclosure, and the budget entered into the CSA system. The Program Narrative is limited to 10 pages, should use 12-point font with numbered pages, and must address Need, Capacity, Quality, and Other criteria. Files should be named using the CSFA number and the applicant organization, and Microsoft Word or PDF formats are accepted. If an application requirement will be fulfilled by a third party, a letter of support from that party must be included. Applications must be emailed to DHS.DBHR.Grant.Implementation@Illinois.gov with the applicant organization name, 27-444-42-3920-01, and Jim Wilkerson in the subject line. Submission to another email address or by fax, hard copy, disk, or thumb drive will not be accepted. Applicants that do not receive confirmation of receipt must notify the Department within 48 hours of the deadline. The application was posted February 23, 2026, and the full application deadline was April 6, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. CST. No letter of intent, pre-application, or white paper was required. Responsive applications were scheduled for review between April 7 and May 15, 2026, with an anticipated award announcement date of May 15, 2026. The stated review framework uses a 100-point scale, although the notice contains an internal inconsistency: the narrative instructions allocate 30 points to Need, 30 to Capacity, 10 to Quality, and 30 to Other, while the later Review Criteria section allocates 20 points to Need, 20 to Capacity, 10 to Quality, and 50 to Other. The Department also states that numerical score is not the sole award criterion and may consider factors such as geographic distribution, demonstrated need, and prior State grantee performance. Questions about the NOFO and technical submission issues may be directed to Jim Wilkerson at Jim.Wilkerson@illinois.gov. Subject to appropriation, the initial grant period begins no sooner than July 1, 2026, and continues through June 30, 2027. Successful applicants may be eligible for two subsequent one-year renewals at the Department's discretion, but the NOFO does not state that the competitive application opportunity itself recurs annually or on another regular schedule. Services cannot begin until a contract is fully executed, and the fully executed Uniform Grant Agreement is the document authorizing performance. The release of the NOFO does not obligate the Illinois Department of Human Services to make any award.

Submit every required component because IDHS will not contact applicants for missing items. Ensure each narrative section directly addresses the requested content or provides an explicit cross-reference. Emphasize relevant Illinois gambling disorder experience, community linkages, culturally competent outreach, measurable data collection, quality improvement, and capacity to coordinate statewide partners. Make sure the CSA budget is signed and shows the required submitted-for-program-review status. Do not wait until the last minute to submit. The notice contains conflicting merit-review point allocations, so applicants should verify the controlling scoring weights with IDHS.