Capacity Grant FAQs

The Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) School-Linked Partnership and Capacity Grant is a $400 million statewide investment through the CYBHI supporting county offices of education (COEs) and local education agencies (LEAs) to build sustainable behavioral health services through partnerships, infrastructure, and reimbursement readiness. Grants are administered by the Sacramento and Santa Clara COEs, in partnership with the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). Sacramento and Santa Clara COE  provide robust technical assistance to grantees including regular office hours and communities of practice and a variety of peer learning communities.

At the COE and LEA levels, funds may be used in the following priority funding areas (PFAs): service delivery infrastructure and capacity building; billing infrastructure; data collection and documentation; Medi‑Cal enrollment; collective impact; administrative costs; and Other. For more details on any of these categories, please refer to the Funding Guidance Memo.

The Capacity Grant was administered to the 58 COEs across California. Each COE decided whether they would (1) centralize funds at the COE to support LEAs in building behavioral health capacity, (2) distribute funds to LEAs for their implementation of grant funds, or (3) blend the two models. Regardless of strategy, 80% of COEs grant funds must either flow directly to LEAs via direct allocations or provide direct services to LEAs to increase their ability to meet the behavioral health needs of students.

Funds have already been distributed to all 58 county offices of education (COEs). If you are a local education agency (LEA) looking to learn more about your COE’s Capacity Grant implementation approach, please contact your local COE to learn more about how you may partner with them.

Progress reporting occurs on a bi-annual basis for county offices of education (COEs) and local education agencies (LEAs). Regional leads report annually. Please see the specific deadlines below.

• COE Report Deadlines:
  • Progress Report 1: Due January 31, 2025 (for work completed between March 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024)
  • Progress Report 2: Due July 31, 2025 (for work completed between January 1, 2025 – June 30, 2025)
  • Progress Report 3: Due January 30, 2026 (for work completed between July 1, 2025 – December 30, 2025)
  • Progress Report 4: Due July 31, 2026 (for work completed between January 1, 2026 – June 30, 2026)
  • Progress Report 5: Due January 29, 2027 (for work completed between July 1, 2026 – December 30, 2026) *Option to submit a final report at this time
  • Progress Report 6: Due July 30, 2027 (for work completed between January 1, 2027 – June 30, 2027) *Option to submit a final report at this time
  • Progress Report 7: Due January 31, 2028 (for work completed between July 1, 2027 – December 30, 2027) *Option to submit a final report at this time
  • Final Report: Due July 31, 2028 (for work completed between January 1, 2028 – June 30, 2028) 
• LEA Report Deadlines:
  • Progress Report 1: Due July 31, 2025 (for work completed between January 1, 2025 – June 30, 2025)
  • Progress Report 2: Due January 30, 2026 (for work completed between July 1, 2025 – December 30, 2025)
  • Progress Report 3: Due July 31, 2026 (for work completed between January 1, 2026 – June 30, 2026)
  • Progress Report 4: Due January 29, 2027 (for work completed between July 1, 2026 – December 30, 2026) *Option to submit a final report at this time
  • Progress Report 5: Due July 30, 2027 (for work completed between January 1, 2027 – June 30, 2027) *Option to submit a final report at this time
  • Progress Report 6: Due January 31, 2028 (for work completed between July 1, 2027 – December 30, 2027) *Option to submit a final report at this time
  • Final Report: Due July 31, 2028 (for work completed between January 1, 2028 – June 30, 2028) 
• Regional Lead COE Report Deadlines:
  • Progress Report 1: Due August 31, 2026 (for work completed between January 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026)
  • Progress Report 2: Due August 31, 2027 (for work completed between July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027) 
  • Progress Report 1: Due August 31, 2028 (for work completed between July 1, 2027 – June 30, 2028)

The Capacity Grant helps county offices of education build readiness for school-linked behavioral health, including the CYBHI Fee Schedule program. The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) sets the policy and requirements for the CYBHI Fee Schedule program, while the Capacity Grant helps county offices of education understand, plan for, and implement the work.

For official Fee Schedule policy guidance, visit the DHCS website. Capacity Grant resources are designed to support implementation and field learning, not replace official state guidance.

County office of education representatives can access COE-specific resources, peer learning opportunities, and grant administration tools through the Capacity Grant COE Online Community.

LEAs can use the Resource Hub to search public tools, memos, case studies, trainings, and partner resources. LEAs should also connect with their county office of education for local implementation support.

For general questions and inquiries related to the grant program or participation, please reach out to capacitygrants@sccoe.org. For COE inquiries about MOUs and invoices, please contact capacityadmin@scoe.net.