I had just finished bemoaning the lack of funding for addictions programs when a welcome bit of news showed up in my inbox — in the form of a press release from HHS.
Secretary Kennedy Announces Over $700 Million in New Funding to Address Mental Illness, Addiction, Homelessness
“Through more than $700 million in new investments, we are advancing President Trump’s Great American Recovery Initiative and addressing the addiction and serious mental illness that fuel homelessness across America,” the Secretary announced. “These investments will help move people from the streets into treatment and recovery, strengthen families, save lives, and make communities safer…”
I promptly forwarded it to two of my colleagues in the field, letting them know that substantial new funding would be available, probably through the grant process, for behavioral health and homelessness. Good news indeed.
Then, a short while after, this nugget showed up, from StatNews.
RFK Jr. presents $700 million in mental health funding, but experts say grants aren’t new
The aforementioned experts noted that most of the $700 million actually represents “… the long-awaited release of existing grants that Congress had previously authorized and that the federal government already planned to spend.”
So it’s really “old” money?
As it turns out, the funds in question had previously been delayed for months.
That had been “…worrying state behavioral health officials and local addiction treatment or mental health organizations that rely on federal dollars.” The money would be released, although late.
As far as new programs, there weren’t many. Most notable was “a new initiative known as Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support, or STREETS, which will target substance use and severe mental illness among the homeless.” $96 million was designated for that alone.
But the experts clarified that “…the funds for STREETS also appear to be pulled from other existing programs and do not constitute “new” funding.”
So I began to wonder if this was simply a matter of one politician taking credit for the hard work of others who came before. That’s certainly common enough in Washington.
Still, $700 million doesn’t just sound like a lot of money, it is a lot of money. No use looking a gift horse in the mouth.
Besides, the Secretary says we can expect $50 billion more to come from the opioid settlements — remember them? It’s to be spread over 20 years.
I wonder who’ll take the credit for that?
