HHS offers $281 million in grants for addiction and mental health

The Department of Health and Human Services opened more than $281 million in behavioral-health grant opportunities across 15 programs, splitting the money among opioid treatment, school mental health, trauma care and overdose response rather than creating one big national pot. The largest line, worth $68.2 million, is aimed at medication-assisted treatment for prescription drug and opioid addiction.

The funding announcement from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is aimed at nonprofits, state agencies, local health systems, school districts and other providers that are already carrying the load in communities hit hardest by overdose deaths and treatment shortages. The grants can support substance use disorder treatment, overdose prevention and response, mental health and suicide prevention, trauma-informed care, integrated care, recovery supports, first responder training, privacy education and workforce development.

HHS set aside $55.7 million for Project AWARE to build school-based mental health infrastructure, and $40.6 million for the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative Community Treatment and Service Centers-III to expand trauma services for children and youth. Other money in the package is aimed at community overdose prevention, suicide prevention on college campuses and education tied to federal behavioral health privacy rules.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. called the initiative part of President Trump’s Great American Recovery Initiative, with the investments intended to “expand treatment, strengthen recovery services, prevent overdose, and equip communities with the tools they need to save lives, restore families, and Make America Healthy Again.” Christopher D. Carroll, the SAMHSA principal deputy assistant secretary: the agency is trying to address the “full continuum of behavioral health needs.”

SAMHSA already distributes nearly $800 million a year through its block grant programs to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, six Pacific jurisdictions and one tribal entity. SAMHSA’s FY 2026 Recovery Community Services Program has $1.5 million in total available funding, with an application deadline of July 27, an expected award date of September 1 and a start date of September 30.