June 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday announced more than $700 million in new funding opportunities aimed at tackling mental illness, addiction and homelessness.
The package includes a new $96 million grant program, Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support, or STREETS, which will award funding to eight communities, the Department of Health and Human Services said.
Each community will be eligible for up to $3 million a year
over four years.
The program is intended to help local governments build coordinated care systems for people experiencing homelessness who have substance use disorders, serious mental illness, or both.
HHS said the effort will bring together local governments, healthcare and housing providers, law enforcement agencies and courts.
Kennedy announced the funding during a visit to an Easterseals Michigan behavioral health clinic in Clinton Township, Michigan.
He said the investments would help move people "from the streets into treatment and recovery," strengthen families, save lives and make communities safer.
HHS said the broader package includes $223.1 million for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, $238.6 million for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, $80 million for substance use prevention, treatment and recovery programs, and more than $70 million for mental health services and supports.
The department said the funding is aligned with President Donald Trump's "Great American Recovery Initiative" and an executive order focused on ending crime and disorder on U.S. streets.
(Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru)
