Gateway Mental Health Diversion Program

Words in [brackets] are blanks you fill in with your own details when you adopt this sample in Supreme Plan AI.

Executive Summary

Gateway Mental Health Diversion Program is a nonprofit in Ohio that connects people with serious mental illness who are charged with lower-level offenses to treatment instead of jail. By written agreement with law enforcement, prosecutors and the court, we offer voluntary enrollment, a case manager and a peer specialist for about nine months, and a fund that pays providers directly for treatment access and housing stabilization.

Jails have become the largest mental health providers in many counties, and people with serious mental illness often cycle through them without treatment. A jail stay costs the county far more than treatment, and the person leaves with the same illness.

With this grant we will serve about 80 participants in Year 1 at 1 site. Participation is voluntary, a participant keeps the right to a lawyer, we do not give legal advice and our crisis plan names 988 and 911. We do not promise that any person will avoid arrest. We promise respect, careful records and honest limits.

Our Year 1 budget is about $293,000, growing to about $421,500 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 6 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a Program Director, two case managers and a part-time peer specialist) and 10 by Year 5.

We are asking the Buckeye Justice and Wellness Foundation for $80,000 for a Case Manager, a treatment access fund, a housing stabilization fund and crisis training. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

Gateway Mental Health Diversion Program is a nonprofit organization in Ohio. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. People with serious mental illness belong in treatment, not in jail, and the community is safer when they get it.

What we do.
- Accept referrals from law enforcement, prosecutors, judges and jail staff for people with mental illness charged with lower-level offenses, under written agreements.
- Assign each participant a case manager and a peer specialist for about nine months.
- Connect participants with treatment, medication, housing, benefits and work.
- Provide a fund that pays providers directly for treatment access and housing stabilization.
- Train officers and jail staff in recognizing mental illness and responding safely.
- Report to the referring agency on participation, as the agreement allows.

Our values. Respect for every participant, honesty with families and partners, safety first and a place for everyone who wants to belong.

What we do not do. Participation is voluntary, and a person keeps the right to a lawyer and to decline. We do not give legal advice and do not decide charges. We are not an emergency service: staff follow a written crisis plan that names 988 and 911. We explain the limits of confidentiality. We do not promise that any person will avoid future arrest. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of mental health professionals, a retired judge and a public defender began meeting people in the county jail who were there because of behavior caused by untreated illness. Many had no one waiting outside. We kept simple records of who we met and what happened afterward. This proposal asks for support to move from meetings at the county jail to a steady program with paid, trained staff and the materials to match.

Problem & Opportunity

Jails have become the largest mental health providers in many counties, and people with serious mental illness often cycle through them without treatment.

Cost. Each jail stay costs the county far more than treatment and housing, and the person leaves with the same illness and often a worse situation.

Access. Community treatment has waiting lists, and people leaving jail often have no medication, no ID and nowhere to stay.

Safety and trust. Communities want public safety and accountability, and participants want to be treated as people, not only as cases.

Missed benefits. People with untreated mental illness face repeated arrests, lost housing and worsening health.

What we hear.
- A deputy says he books the same man every month for the same reason.
- A mother says her son needs a hospital, not a cell.
- A judge says she wants something better than jail for people who are ill.
- A participant says no one asked what he needed until the case manager did.

We do not claim that a program can solve every challenge. We believe that treatment, housing and a person who stays can break the cycle of arrest and illness.

Products & Services

Gateway Mental Health Diversion Program gives people with serious mental illness who are at risk of jail a safe, welcoming place to get treatment and stay out of jail.

How the program works.
1. Referral. Law enforcement, prosecutors, judges and jail staff refer eligible people under a written agreement.
2. Voluntary enrollment. A case manager meets the person, explains the program and rights and enrolls only those who agree.
3. Plan. The case manager, the participant and a clinician write a plan for treatment, housing and benefits.
4. Treatment access. We pay providers directly for appointments and medications when needed.
5. Housing. We pay vendors directly for short-term housing stabilization.
6. Peer support. A peer specialist with lived experience meets with the participant weekly.
7. Reporting. We report participation to the referring agency as the agreement allows and follow participants for about nine months.

What a typical session looks like. Participants arrive and check in with a staff member, settle in together, work on the day's activity in small groups and finish with a short talk about what went well. Staff praise effort, correct mistakes kindly and make sure no one is left out.

Staff. Our case managers and peer specialists are trained in mental health and criminal justice, pass a background check where allowed, complete our training and are paid for their time. A licensed clinical director supervises.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. Services are free. We welcome every eligible person regardless of income and offer services in English and Spanish.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Adults with serious mental illness who are charged with lower-level, nonviolent offenses and live in our county. Eligibility is a mental health need, an eligible charge under the agreement and voluntary consent, and no one is turned away for lack of insurance.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our jail meetings we met more people than we could follow and kept a waiting list. The sheriff and the court told us that many more people could be diverted than we can serve. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 80 participants at 1 sites. By Year 5, with more staff and sites, we plan to serve about 240.

Where participants come from.
- Law enforcement and jail staff.
- Prosecutors, public defenders and judges.
- Hospitals and community mental health centers.
- Families and participants.

Who else benefits. Participants gain treatment and stability. The county saves jail costs. Neighborhoods gain safety through fewer repeated arrests.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a person who got treatment instead of another night in jail. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What young people can find today, and how we are different.

1. Jail mental health services. Essential and short-term. We continue care after release.

2. Community mental health centers. Provide treatment with waiting lists. We help participants enter care.

3. Mental health courts. Strong and limited by caseload. We add case management.

4. Crisis response teams. Respond to emergencies and do not provide long-term support. We link participants.

5. Reentry programs. Provide general help and not specialized mental health care. We specialize.

What makes us different.
- Voluntary enrollment with legal rights respected.
- A case manager and a peer for every participant.
- Treatment and housing paid directly to providers.
- Written agreements with referring agencies.
- Training for officers and jail staff.

Why this gap matters. Existing programs do good work, and most serve people who can already pay or who live close to them. The people we serve are the ones left over: they live in the wrong neighborhood, have the wrong schedule or have no one to ask. We are built to reach them.

We have spoken with the sheriff, prosecutors, judges and community mental health centers to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Law enforcement and jail staff. We will give staff a short referral form and a named contact.
- Courts and prosecutors. We will present at meetings and agree on eligibility.
- Hospitals and mental health centers. We will share information.
- Families. We will use NAMI chapters and community groups to share information.
- Word of mouth. Participants tell friends.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching staff and sponsors.
- Recruit case managers and peers through behavioral health programs, social work schools and peer networks.
- Offer an orientation, a background check and training in safety, privacy and respectful practice.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of participants and what they said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for those with the greatest need and for people new to the program. We keep a waiting list when the program is full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, people diverted, treatment started and how many participants return for a second season.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the staff, buy equipment and materials, finalize the waiver, consent form and privacy policy with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Sign written agreements with referring agencies and begin accepting referrals.
- Months 4 to 10: Enroll participants, provide case management and peer support and follow them for about nine months.
- Months 11 and 12: Survey participants and agencies, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. We work from a small office near the courthouse and meet participants in the community and at the jail with approval.

Safety and privacy.
- Staff follow a written crisis plan that names 988 and 911 and tell a supervisor the same day.
- Staff meet participants in public places or with another staff member, and follow the jail's rules.
- Every staff member and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Staff work in pairs or in view of others whenever participants are minors or in a vulnerable situation.
- We keep an emergency plan at every site, and participants complete an emergency contact form.
- We keep records private, share them only with a participant's permission or as the law requires and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $6,000 of equipment once at the start: laptops and a secure case management system ($3,000), phones and a secure line for participants ($1,500), office furnishings and locking storage ($1,500). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The Program Director, a licensed clinician paid $62,000 a year, supervises care. Two Case Managers, each paid $42,000 a year, work with participants. A part-time peer specialist, paid $22,000, provides peer support. We add staff as we add sites.

Management & Organization

Dr. Karen Mitchell, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work as a psychiatric nurse who watched patients cycle between the hospital and the jail. I will complete the training we require of our case managers so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Staff. The Program Director, a licensed clinician, supervises care, case managers work with each participant and part-time peer specialists provide support. Each passes a background check where allowed. These positions are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a retired judge, a psychiatric nurse, a public defender, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney, a family member and a person in recovery. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A county sheriff's office staff member, a prosecutor and a psychiatrist give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $54,000 a year; program Director, paid $62,000 a year; case Manager, paid $42,000 a year; peer Specialist (part-time), paid $22,000 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Serve about 80 participants at 1 sites.
- Run at least two full seasons and a summer session.
- Have at least 85 percent of participants attend most sessions.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants return for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions and games attended, from our records.
- Skills learned and goals met, from the coach's checklist.
- Equipment issued and returned, from our log.
- Participant and family feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 120 participants at 1 sites.
- Year 3: About 160 participants at 2 sites.
- Year 4: About 200 participants at 2 sites.
- Year 5: About 240 participants at 2 sites.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 58 percent of our budget, down from about 67 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $80,000 from the Buckeye Justice and Wellness Foundation for a Case Manager, a treatment access fund, a housing stabilization fund and crisis training, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Case Manager salary, $42,000.
- Other: Treatment and medication access fund paid to providers, $20,000.
- Other: Housing stabilization fund paid to landlords, $14,000.
- Other: Crisis intervention training for officers and staff, $4,000.

Other money in the program. This request is about 41% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $293,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $11,800 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $197,000; county Criminal Justice Funding $60,000; state Behavioral Health Funding $26,000; individual Donors $10,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $54,000; program Director $62,000; case Manager $42,000; peer Specialist (part-time) $22,000; treatment and Medication Access Fund about $20,000; housing Stabilization Fund about $14,000; transportation about $5,000; crisis Intervention Training about $5,000; data and Evaluation about $4,000; administration and Insurance about $10,000; about $2,800 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $16,000 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,000 for laptops and a secure case management system; $1,500 for phones and a secure line for participants; $1,500 for office furnishings and locking storage; $3,000 for attorney review of the consent form, agency agreement and privacy policy; $1,500 for flyers, banners and a simple website; $3,000 for crisis intervention training and background checks; $2,500 for first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($16,000), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $70,000, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $86,000. We start with $8,000 from our founding board and $80,000 in startup support from a community foundation and a hospital partner, $88,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $293,000 in Year 1 to about $421,500 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $197,000, $225,000, $232,000, $260,500 and $245,500 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: county Criminal Justice Funding from $60,000 to $100,000; state Behavioral Health Funding from $26,000 to $50,000; individual Donors from $10,000 to $26,000. Our surplus is planned at about $11,800 in Year 1, about $14,700 in Year 2, about $16,300 in Year 3, about $19,200 in Year 4 and about $20,400 in Year 5. We grow from 1 sites to 2 by Year 5, adding a part-time coach for each new site.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $83,300, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $11,720 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per participant. In Year 1, our total costs are about $3,515 per participant served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more participant served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $1,671 per participant.

After the grant. County criminal justice funding, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor a team or a season by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and the city that want a safe, free jail diversion option for every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Certified coaches, proper equipment, groups matched by age and skill, a written emergency plan and insurance.
- A site is no longer available. We keep agreements with more than one site and a plan for bad weather.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share lesson plans.
- Low attendance. We adjust sites, times and rides based on family feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of participants and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $197,000 in Year 1, growing to $245,500 in Year 5.
- County Criminal Justice Funding: $60,000 in Year 1, growing to $100,000 in Year 5.
- State Behavioral Health Funding: $26,000 in Year 1, growing to $50,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors: $10,000 in Year 1, growing to $26,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $54,000; program Director $62,000; case Manager $42,000; peer Specialist (part-time) $22,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: treatment and Medication Access Fund $20,000; housing Stabilization Fund $14,000; transportation $5,000; crisis Intervention Training $5,000; data and Evaluation $4,000; administration and Insurance $10,000. These grow between 4% and 6% a year.
- Equipment: $6,000 at the start, then $1,500 to $2,500 a year.
- Startup costs: $16,000, paid once from $88,000 in startup money.
- Participants served: about 80 in Year 1, growing to about 240 in Year 5. Sites: 1 in Year 1, growing to 2 by Year 5. Referrals are accepted year-round and each participant is followed for about nine months.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs