HHS awards $88M to support youth mental health, substance abuse services

Key takeaways:

• HHS awarded $88.7 million in grants for youth mental health and substance use disorder treatment.
• The department is fighting “the nation’s ongoing mental health crisis and overdose epidemic.”

More than $88 million in grant funds recently poured into youth mental health services and the treatment of substance use disorders, according to a press release from HHS.

The department said the funds, awarded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, will be used to combat “the nation’s ongoing mental health crisis and overdose epidemic.”

“The United States is currently facing an unprecedented mental health crisis, with young people being especially impacted,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in the release. “These grant programs will help all Americans get the support and care they need.”

The largest of the grants was $42.2 million for Project Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education, which supports school-based mental health programs, as well as training to help school personnel and other adults respond to mental health challenges.

HHS distributed $15.3 million for a program providing “comprehensive, coordinated and evidence-based treatment and services” to youths and other people who are homeless and have substance use disorder.

The department also awarded $1.4 million for a program making overdose reversal medications more accessible, as well as $3 million for training on medications for opioid and alcohol use disorders.

Other awards include:

• $17.5 million for the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, which treats young people and families who have experienced traumatic events;
• $4.6 million for Transforming Lives Through Supported Employment, which seeks jobs for people with concurrent mental and substance use disorders; and
• $4.7 million for Assertive Community Treatment programs supporting people with serious mental illness or emotional disturbance.