Opportunity Overview
The Maryland Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy is accepting applications for the SFY 2027 Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners (RSAT) Grant Program. RSAT supports evidence-based substance-use treatment in correctional and detention settings and community reintegration services after release.
Funding, Cost Share and Deadline
Maryland anticipates $471,729 in total SFY 2027 RSAT funding and expects to make up to 3 awards. Applicants must request at least $50,000 and no more than $200,000. The NOFA imposes a 25% non-federal cost share, which may be cash or in-kind; federal grant funds cannot be used to satisfy that requirement. Awards are paid on a quarterly reimbursement basis, so applicants should also plan for the cash-flow implications of waiting for reimbursement.
Applications are due September 11, 2026 at 11:59 PM through the Maryland Grants Management System. The current NOFA does not state a time zone for the deadline. The anticipated period of performance is October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.
Critical Portal Gate
The NOFA set September 4, 2026 as the last day to request a new GMS User ID. That date has passed. Eligible organizations should therefore verify immediately that the submitting team already has working GMS credentials. Organizations with an existing account but access problems should use the GOCPP GMS Help Desk; Atlas does not assume that a new account can still be created after the published cutoff.
Who Can Apply
Direct applicants are limited to the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, and local detention centers. Each eligible entity may submit no more than one application and must satisfy SAM.gov, UEI and Grants Management System requirements throughout the grant cycle.
Priority Treatment Models
RSAT may support residential programs in prisons, jail-based programs, qualifying pretrial treatment and aftercare. Maryland gives priority consideration to applications that involve partnerships with community-based substance-use treatment programs. Programs should be evidence based, trauma informed and capable of addressing co-occurring mental-health conditions.
Core requirements include intake, screening and assessment; individualized treatment planning; comprehensive SUD treatment; medication-assisted treatment as part of the treatment strategy; random or periodic drug testing where required; health literacy; continuity of care; aftercare; and coordination with community treatment and rehabilitation partners. RSAT-funded participants must receive aftercare services.
Verified Allowable Budget Pathways
The current NOFA expressly allows several healthcare-relevant cost pathways when they are necessary to the approved RSAT program. Contractual services may include licensed treatment providers and counselors, evaluation/data services, community-based treatment and aftercare providers, and interpreter services. Operating costs may include treatment materials, drug-testing kits, facility costs and program-delivery communications such as phones and internet.
The NOFA also identifies medical or therapeutic equipment directly tied to substance-use treatment as a potentially allowable equipment cost. Treatment-related software or platform subscriptions and computers or tablets below the equipment threshold may also be budgeted in the applicable cost category when necessary for program delivery. These provisions do not make RSAT a general technology grant: every cost must remain directly tied to the approved correctional treatment and reintegration model and satisfy the controlling budget rules.
Justice-Health Partnership Opportunity
Although hospitals, FQHCs, behavioral-health organizations and community treatment providers are not direct applicants, they can be highly relevant partners. The NOFA explicitly emphasizes community-based treatment partnerships, medical treatment and other health services, medications for opioid and alcohol use disorders, recovery supports, transitional housing, peer support and coordinated reentry.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 88/100. This is a strong Maryland justice-health and behavioral-health opportunity because the funding can support a full continuum from correctional screening and treatment through medication-assisted treatment, discharge planning and post-release community care. The narrow lead-applicant rule, 25% non-federal cost share, reimbursement structure and elapsed September 4 GMS User ID cutoff are material readiness gates that should be resolved before further application work.
N9+ Direct Vendor Fit: 28/100. The verified NOFA does create a limited equipment and treatment-technology pathway, including medical or therapeutic equipment directly tied to substance-use treatment, treatment-related software/platforms and certain computers/tablets. N9+ should still be considered only when an eligible lead can document a specific correctional clinical workflow, direct treatment value and budget allowability; Atlas does not treat RSAT as a general telehealth-equipment grant.
Application Readiness
With the September 11 deadline approaching, eligible leads should move directly into final submission QA: verify working GMS credentials now that the new-user cutoff has passed; confirm SAM.gov/UEI status; finalize the RSAT model and treatment/reentry partners; document the 25% non-federal cost share; confirm cash-flow capacity for quarterly reimbursement; complete the required narrative, goals and objectives, data and sustainability plans, budget and spending plan, Organizational Capacity Questionnaire and required attachments; then submit early enough to resolve any portal or validation issues.
Official source: Maryland Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy — RSAT.