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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has launched a new nationwide program that will carry out President Trump’s “Great American Recovery” executive order and assist Americans struggling with homelessness and the pain of addiction.
The HHS will invest $100 million to “solve long-standing homelessness issues, fight opioid addiction, and improve public safety by expanding treatment that emphasizes recovery and self-sufficiency.”
The program is called STREETS: Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Supports.
“First, we’re confronting addiction and mental illness on our streets,” Secretary Kennedy said at the SAMHSA Prevention Day Summit, where he announced the launch of STREETS.
“Substance abuse drives homelessness,” he explained. “About 37 percent of homeless people say they have taken drugs regularly over the past six months. During the previous administration, homelessness reached record highs because the system encouraged people with severe mental illness and addiction to cycle endlessly between sidewalks, emergency rooms, jails, mental hospitals, and shelters. No one took responsibility for the whole person.”
According to HHS, substance use disorder rose rapidly from 7.4 percent in 2019 to 16.8 percent in 2024 among those ages 12 and older. There is often a direct link between homelessness in the U.S. and substance addiction, with one issue often feeding the other.
American Addiction Centers reported that substance abuse is “more prevalent in people who are homeless than in those who are not.” The cost of rehab programs or accessible treatment programs often hinders addicts’ recovery options – something STREETS aims to remedy.
“STREETS will invest $100 million in pilot programs in aid communities that are prepared to lead to solve long-term homelessness issues, fight opioid addiction, and improve public safety by expanding treatment and emphasize recovery and self-sufficiency,” Secretary Kennedy said on Monday.
President Trump’s EO this week launched the “Great American Recovery Initiative,” directly ordering Kennedy to take appropriate action to expand treatments and access to treatments for suffering Americans.
This also builds on a previous EO the president signed last July, which directed SAMHSA grants to be used on evidence-based substance use disorder programs to help homeless individuals get off the streets and into support networks.
In addition to Secretary Kennedy’s announcement of the STREETS program on Monday, he also unveiled a $10 million Assisted Outpatient Treatment grant program to support adults with mental illness. AOT kicks in as a civil court-ordered outpatient mental health treatment program for those with severe mental illnesses in local communities.
