SAMHSA Announces $19M in Supplemental Funding to Strengthen Housing Capacity for Homeless People with Serious Mental Illness

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is awarding $19 million in new supplemental funding through the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant for efforts to address the intersection of homelessness and serious mental illness (SMI). This funding advances the President’s Executive Order Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.

“Americans living on the streets with serious mental illness deserve real care and support,” said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “This funding drives action. We are tackling the root causes of homelessness head-on to restore dignity, build stability, and open the path to recovery.”

“Addressing homelessness for people with serious mental illnesses requires improved coordination and partnerships nationwide,” said SAMHSA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Dr. Art Kleinschmidt. “This investment will help build data-driven capacity at the state and local level and is critical to make our communities safer and healthier.”

This supplemental funding provides an opportunity for states to align public health, housing, and justice systems in order to reduce homelessness and improve outcomes for individuals with SMI. The funding will help states build capacity and promote collaboration across systems, with a particular focus on addressing the intersection of homelessness and SMI.

A key priority is building cross-system capacity to support individuals with a history of non-adherence to voluntary outpatient treatment and/or anosognosia – a disorder that prevents them from being aware of their mental illness -- through the use of tools such as Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) programs. In addition, the funding strengthens partnerships between state and local housing authorities, ensuring people with SMI who are experiencing homelessness can gain access to stable housing.

Additional priorities include improving data-sharing infrastructure, including the use of Health Information Exchanges and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and developing state-level protocols, guidance, and training to support implementation of AOT.

All 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the six Pacific jurisdictions are eligible to receive this supplemental technical assistance funding, with individual awards ranging from $20,000 to $2.3 million.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. To learn how to get support for mental health, drug or alcohol issues, visit FindSupport.gov. If you are ready to locate a treatment facility or provider, you can go directly to FindTreatment.gov or call 800-662-HELP (4357).