HHS Announces Mental Health Support Funding for Children and Young Adults

According to a March 9 press release, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Office of Minority Health (OMH)—announced nearly $35 million in funding opportunities to support and increase community mental health services and suicide prevention programs for the nation’s children and young adults. The funding opportunities are through seven grant programs.

The release states that “The American Rescue Plan funded $9.2 million. This announcement is part of a new Administration-wide initiative to tackle the nation’s mental health crisis.”

Further, “Last week, following President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address, Secretary Becerra kicked off a National Tour to Strengthen Mental Health in an effort to hear directly from Americans across the country about the mental health challenges they're facing, and engage with local leaders to strengthen the mental health and crisis care systems in our communities. On Friday, as part of the tour, Secretary Becerra and Dr. Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, the HHS Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use and the leader of SAMHSA, met with mental health providers and local leaders in Manchester, N.H.”

The release adds that the seven grant programs include:

SAMHSA

• Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education)
• Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention (GLS)
• GLS State/Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention and Early Intervention Program
• Statewide Family Network (SFN) Program
• Expansion and Sustainability of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances (SED)
• The Community Programs for Outreach and Intervention with Youth and Young Adults at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P)

OMH

• OMH Demonstrating Policy Effectiveness to Promote Black Youth Mental Health Initiative

Delphin-Rittmon was quoted in the release saying that “These grant programs will expand access to proven treatments, interventions, and other recovery supports, while developing new and innovative solutions to strengthen mental health services for America’s children and young adults. As we travel to communities across the country, I look forward to engaging with local leaders on how the Department and SAMHSA can ensure that our mental health and crisis care systems don’t leave our young people behind.”

Information on the National Tour to Strengthen Mental Health can be found here.