LEO issues RFP for 2025 school psychologist training program

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a school psychologist training program to increase and invest in the school psychologist workforce in Michigan which will help students who are facing mental health challenges and help schools navigate resources available. The total funding available for the program is $1,000,000 and LEO estimates awarding one to two awards for a maximum of $350,000 per year, with up to three years of total funding, for the grant period that runs Oct 1. 2024 – Sept. 30, 2029.

To address the shortage of school psychologists in the workforce, the State of Michigan is expanding access to education or preparation programs maintained by higher education institutions in Michigan that offer designations, focus or special certifications in the provision of school psychology services in accordance with the Michigan Administrative Code.

A higher education institution may apply to the department on a competitive basis for a portion of the available funds, which must be used for one or both of the following to hire faculty members to:

• Initiate enrollment in a new school psychology program.
• Expand enrollment and to develop distance education in existing school psychology programs.

The amount per year for grants used to initiate enrollment in a new program described in this section must not exceed $350,000 per year for one, two or three years, depending on the grant applications submitted to and approved by the department.

The amount per year for grants used to expand enrollment and to develop distance education in existing programs described in this section must not exceed $150,000 per year for one, two or three years, depending on the grant applications submitted to and approved by the department.

A higher education institution located in Michigan that offers or plans to offer designations, focus or special certifications in the provision of school psychology services in accordance with R 380.204 of the Michigan Administrative Code is eligible to apply for the grant.

Grant applications for school psychologist training program RFP must be submitted electronically through the LEO EGrAMS website by 3 p.m., Feb. 27, 2025.

A pre-application conference will be held to discuss this funding opportunity and provide instruction on using the EGrAMS system. The pre-application conference will be held on Jan. 22, 2025, at 10 a.m. EST, and will last approximately 90 minutes. The webinar can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/y8rp5sdk. After the conference, the link can be used to access the recording of this webinar.

Any questions concerning the content of this RFP may be discussed verbally at the pre-application conference, or emailed to LEO-Grants@michigan.gov on or before Jan. 24, 2025.LEO will compile all relevant questions and answers and post these as well as any other clarifications or revisions to the initial RFP by Jan. 28, 2025, on the EGrAMS website.

Office hours will be offered twice during the application period and are open for one hour on Feb. 6 and Feb. 20 at 10 a.m. EST. Office hours are open to any potential applicant to get technical assistance or ask any programmatical question. You can register for these events, and you will receive the recording via email once the event is concluded. These will be recorded, and links will be posted to the LEO-EGrAMS website for all to view.  

Office Hours:

Click here to access Feb. 6 office hours.  

Click here to access Feb. 20 office hours.

For more information or to apply, visit the LEO EGrAMS website and then click “See Current Grants,” then click “SPTP-2025,” and next click “user document” tab where you will find the RFP document and other documents that are needed to submit your grant application.