HHS Awards $77 Million to Strengthen Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, Crisis Services, and Mental Health Services

WASHINGTON, D.C. — August 31, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), today announced on Overdose Awareness Day that it has awarded $77 million in new grant funding to strengthen substance use prevention, treatment and recovery, community mental health, suicide prevention, and crisis services. The announcement comes as National Substance Use Primary Prevention Month draws to a close, with more than $22 million of the funding supporting critical substance use prevention efforts in communities.

"Every American deserves the chance to live free from addiction and the devastation of untreated mental illness," said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. "President Trump’s Great American Recovery is taking on these crises at their roots. We are investing in prevention, expanding access to effective treatment, strengthening crisis response, and helping communities intervene before tragedy strikes. Our goal is clear: save lives, restore families, and help more Americans achieve lasting recovery and better health."

"Prevention is the foundation of a strong behavioral health system," said SAMHSA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher D. Carroll. "More than $22 million of these awards will help states, tribes, and communities prevent substance use and strengthen the protective factors that we know help people thrive. At the same time, these investments strengthen treatment and recovery, community behavioral health, suicide prevention, and crisis services so people can get the support they need when they need it."

The awards announced today include the following:

Substance Use Prevention ($22.2 million)

• Strategic Prevention Framework - Partnerships for Success for Communities and Tribes (SPF-PFS-Communities/Tribes) ($12.2 million) will help prevent and reduce the initiation and progression of substance use and its related problems by supporting the development and delivery of community-based substance use prevention services that strengthen protective factors, reduce risk factors, build resilience, and promote well-being, and expand and strengthen the capacity of prevention providers serving communities and tribes to implement evidence-based and evidence-informed prevention strategies.
• Strategic Prevention Framework - Partnerships for Success for States (SPF-PFS-States) ($10 million) will help prevent and reduce the initiation and progression of substance use and its related problems by supporting the development and delivery of community-based substance use prevention services that strengthen protective factors, reduce risk factors, build resilience, and promote well-being and expand and strengthen the capacity of prevention providers serving communities and tribes to implement evidence-based and evidence-informed prevention strategies.

Substance Use Treatment and Recovery ($23.6 million)

• Building Communities of Recovery (BCOR) ($9.6 million) will support organizations in mobilizing and connecting community resources to increase access to long-term recovery support for people with substance use disorders (SUD) and co-occurring substance use and mental disorders (COD).
• Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) ($8.7 million) will implement the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment public health model for children, adolescents, and/or adults in primary care and community health settings and schools, with a focus on screening for underage drinking, opioid use, and other substance use.
• State Pilot Program for Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women (PPW-PLT) ($5.3 million) will strengthen and expand the state system’s ability to provide integrated, evidence-based substance use disorder (SUD) and maternal mental health services for pregnant and post-partum women (PPW) and their families.

Community Mental Health ($21.8 million)

• Behavioral Health and Community Safety Partnerships (BH-CSP) ($8.9 million) will support communities in reducing the behavioral health impacts of crime, violence, and disorder; strengthening community safety; and improving outcomes for youth, families, and other individuals affected by crime, violence, and disorder.
• National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative – Category I, National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS) ($8 million) will support the national coordinating center that serves the NCTSI network. The NCCTS is also expected to support resource development and dissemination and coordinate the child trauma education, training, technical assistance and related NCTSI-wide service-system improvement efforts.
• Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) ($4.9 million) will support the development or enhancement of evidence-based programs that promote healthy social-emotional development and address the mental health needs of infants and young children. 

Suicide Prevention and Crisis Services ($9.4 million)

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Crisis Center Follow-Up Programs (988 CCFU) ($7.5 million) will expand efforts among 988 Lifeline crisis centers to support individuals post-contact to provide continued support and linkages to decrease suicide, deaths by overdose and future crisis events. Core activities include systematic follow-up of suicidal individuals who contact 988; stronger coordination across crisis services, reduced reliance on emergency responders, and improved connections to ongoing treatment and recovery supports.
• Adult Suicide Prevention (ASP) ($1.9 million) will strengthen community-based suicide prevention and early intervention for adults at risk for suicide through enhanced community collaboration, increased awareness of prevention resources, evidence-based care, and improved transitions and supports.

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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