Addiction and Homelessness Policy

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Monday that HHS will devote $100 million to a new pilot program, STREETS — Safety Through Recovery, Engagement and Evidence-Based Treatment and Supports — to address homelessness, substance abuse and mental health in eight yet‑to‑be‑named U.S. communities, implementing President Trump’s recent 'Great American Recovery Initiative' executive order. Speaking at SAMHSA’s annual Prevention Day, Kennedy said the initiative will build integrated systems that connect unhoused and addicted people to housing, treatment and employment, and he also moved to make faith‑based groups eligible for more addiction grants and to expand how states can tap federal health dollars for substance‑use treatment in some child‑welfare cases. The rollout comes as federal data show U.S. overdose deaths fell 27% last year, but after a year in which SAMHSA laid off about one‑third of its 900 staff and briefly terminated nearly $2 billion in mental‑health and addiction grants before abruptly restoring them, leaving providers wary about planning. HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon framed the moves as part of a reform push to use resources more effectively, while outside experts like Georgetown’s Regina LaBelle welcomed the integrated‑care concept but warned that, given recent 'whiplash' in funding and staffing, the real‑world impact will depend heavily on implementation details, stability and whether the administration can rebuild trust with front‑line treatment programs. The pilot and policy shifts signal a bid by the Trump administration to claim credit for emerging progress on overdoses even as its internal chaos has rattled much of the behavioral‑health system.