WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $77 million in new grants through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to expand substance-use prevention and treatment, community mental-health programs and suicide and crisis services, directing the largest share toward treatment and recovery efforts.
The awards include $23.6 million for substance-use treatment and recovery, $22.2 million for substance-use prevention, $21.8 million for community mental health and $9.4 million for suicide prevention and crisis services.
More than $22 million will support prevention programs administered by states, tribes and communities. The funding includes $12.2 million through the Strategic Prevention Framework-Partnerships for Success program for communities and tribes and $10 million through the corresponding program for states.
Those grants are intended to support community-based prevention services and expand providers’ capacity to use evidence-based and evidence-informed strategies aimed at reducing the initiation and progression of substance use.
“Prevention is the foundation of a strong behavioral health system,” SAMHSA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher D. Carroll said. He said the awards are also intended to strengthen treatment, recovery, mental-health and crisis services.
Treatment and recovery programs will receive $23.6 million, including $9.6 million for Building Communities of Recovery, which connects people with substance-use disorders and co-occurring mental disorders to long-term recovery support.
Another $8.7 million will fund Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment programs in primary-care and community-health settings and schools. The program focuses on screening children, adolescents and adults for underage drinking, opioid use and other substance use.
A state pilot program serving pregnant and postpartum women will receive $5.3 million to expand integrated substance-use disorder and maternal mental-health services for women and their families.
HHS allocated another $21.8 million to community mental-health programs. Of that, $8.9 million will support Behavioral Health and Community Safety Partnerships designed to address the behavioral-health effects of crime, violence and disorder.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative will receive $8 million for its national coordinating center, including child-trauma education, training and technical assistance. Another $4.9 million will support programs addressing the social-emotional development and mental-health needs of infants and young children.
Suicide prevention and crisis programs will receive $9.4 million, with $7.5 million going to 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline follow-up programs.
The 988 funding will support follow-up with people experiencing suicidal crises, coordination among crisis services and connections to continuing treatment and recovery services. The programs are also intended to reduce reliance on emergency responders.
An additional $1.9 million will support community-based suicide prevention and early intervention for adults at risk of suicide.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the grants are intended to expand prevention, treatment and crisis response as part of the Trump administration’s behavioral-health strategy.
The department disclosed the awards on Overdose Awareness Day as National Substance Use Primary Prevention Month drew to a close.
People experiencing a mental-health, substance-use or suicide crisis can call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org. Treatment providers and facilities can be located through FindTreatment.gov.
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