Nearly a year and a half after the COVID-19 pandemic began significantly impairing the mental health of children and those that care for them, the Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation (ILCHF) announces two new initiatives to allocate $8.4 million of its 2021 and 2022 COVID-19 Recovery Funds to children’s mental health. The allocation, issued through two geographic-specific RFPs, one focused on 14 specific zip codes in Chicago, and the other focused on 14 specific counties across the state, will provide grants of up to $150,000 per year for two years. The cost of potentially funding 28 grants of $300,000 each, as well as the evaluation of the two initiatives, will total an estimated $8.6 million. Applications are due by close of business on August 16th. Schools located in the following zip codes and counties are invited to partner with a Medicaid billing non-profit mental health organization to submit a response to the appropriate RFP: