WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Health and Human Services is making more than $700 million available for addiction, mental health, crisis response, and homelessness-related programs, including a new $96 million initiative aimed at connecting homeless individuals with serious mental illness and substance use disorders to treatment and recovery services.
The funding package, unveiled by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., includes grants for community behavioral health clinics, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, substance use treatment programs, and mental health services, aligning with the administration’s broader behavioral health and homelessness agenda.
“Through more than $700 million in new investments, we are advancing President Trump’s Great American Recovery Initiative and addressing the addiction and serious mental illness that fuel homelessness across America,” Kennedy stated. “These investments will help move people from the streets into treatment and recovery, strengthen families, save lives, and make communities safer.”
The largest new initiative is the Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support (STREETS) program, which will provide up to $24 million annually for four years. The program will fund eight communities with up to $3 million per year to develop coordinated systems serving homeless individuals with substance use disorders, serious mental illness, or co-occurring conditions.
According to HHS, the program emphasizes street-based engagement, treatment, recovery support services, and coordination among local governments, health providers, housing organizations, law enforcement agencies, and courts. The agency noted that grant recipients may not use Housing First models or prohibited harm-reduction services.
The funding announcement also includes $223.1 million for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, or CCBHCs, which provide integrated mental health and substance use disorder treatment. The allocation includes $117.1 million for improvement and advancement grants, $94 million for planning and implementation grants, and $12 million for state planning grants.
Another $238.6 million will support the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, including $211.1 million to improve local crisis response capacity, $20 million for Tribal response programs, and $7.5 million for post-contact follow-up services.
“Every community deserves access to effective behavioral health services that help people prevent addiction, achieve recovery, address mental health challenges, and respond to crises,” Christopher D. Carroll, principal deputy assistant secretary at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, stated. He described CCBHCs as “a cornerstone” of community-based behavioral healthcare.
HHS is also directing approximately $80 million toward substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery programs. Funding will support rural emergency medical services training, treatment and recovery programs for youth and families, drug courts, opioid-response initiatives, services for pregnant and postpartum women, and Tribal treatment programs.
More than $70 million will be allocated to mental health initiatives, including mobile crisis teams, childhood trauma programs, early diversion efforts designed to reduce justice-system involvement, Tribal suicide-prevention services, and infant and early childhood mental health programs.
The funding aligns with President Donald Trump’s Great American Recovery Initiative and other administration efforts focused on addiction recovery, public safety, and behavioral health treatment.
Individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis can call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org. Information about treatment providers is available at FindTreatment.gov.
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