HHS Awards Almost $250 Million to Expand Addiction Treatment, Overdose Prevention and Mental Health Services

WASHINGTON, D.C.—SEPTEMBER 25, 2026—The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), today announced that it has awarded $247.9 million in grants to expand access to addiction treatment, mental health services, and recovery support in communities across the country. The investments will strengthen mental health support in schools, expand trauma treatment for children and families, equip first responders and communities to reverse overdoses, and help people in recovery return to work and rebuild their lives.

“HHS is investing nearly $250 million to put lifesaving treatment and recovery services directly into communities across America,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “Through President Trump’s Great American Recovery, we are expanding addiction treatment, preventing fatal overdoses, helping children and families heal from trauma, and giving Americans in recovery the support they need to rebuild their lives. We are equipping communities with proven tools that save lives and help people recover.”

“These grants will help communities reach people at critical moments, such as when a child is struggling with trauma, when someone is ready to seek treatment for opioid use disorder, when a first responder arrives at the scene of an overdose, or when a person in recovery is working to rebuild their life,” said SAMHSA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher D. Carroll. “With more tools and resources, communities can better connect people to care when they need it and support them on the path to recovery.”

Together, the awards expand access to care across the continuum, from early intervention and lifesaving treatment to long-term recovery support. The awards include:

Expanding Addiction Treatment and Preventing Overdose

• Medication-Assisted Treatment – Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction ($69.4 million) will expand access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), helping more people access treatment and recovery while reducing illicit opioid use, prescription opioid misuse, and overdose.
• First Responders-Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act ($34.6 million) will train first responders and community members to administer and distribute opioid overdose reversal medications.
• Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers ($3.3 million) will establish comprehensive treatment and recovery centers that provide evidence-based substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support services, including access to medications for treatment.

Strengthening Mental Health Services for Children and Communities

• Project AWARE ($54.9 million) will help local and tribal education agencies strengthen mental health services for school-aged youth, including efforts to address mental illness, substance use, and co-occurring disorders and promote social and emotional well-being.
• National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative – Category III Community Treatment and Service Centers ($41.8 million) will establish and operate community treatment and service centers to expand access to effective trauma treatment for children, youth, and families affected by traumatic events.
• Mental Health Awareness Training Grants ($22 million) will support mental health awareness and literacy training to help individuals and communities recognize signs and symptoms of mental disorders and connect people to appropriate services and supports.
• Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention ($8.7 million) will help colleges and universities improve access to behavioral health services, prevent suicide and other behavioral health challenges, promote help-seeking, reduce stigma, and better identify and support students at risk.
• Consumer and Consumer Support Technical Assistance Center ($1.7 million) will establish a national technical assistance center to strengthen organizations addressing priority mental health needs, support peer workforce development and integration across service systems, and build capacity to serve individuals with serious mental illness.

Supporting Recovery and Rebuilding Lives

• Treatment, Recovery, and Workforce Support ($10.1 million) will help people in treatment and recovery from substance use or co-occurring disorders live independently and participate in the workforce.
• Recovery Community Services Program ($1.4 million) will strengthen recovery communities by expanding access to recovery support services, including peer recovery support for individuals with substance use and co-occurring disorders.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. To locate a treatment facility or provider, visit FindTreatment.gov.

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