SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Prevention

The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is a civilian sub-agency within HHS that funds grants for substance abuse prevention, mental health services, and related public health initiatives. SAMHSA does not conduct federal contract procurement; its activity is exclusively grant-based.

SAMHSA has obligated $2.51 billion in federal grant funds across 1,996 awards since 2005, with the most recent award closing on September 30, 2026. Recent annual activity has been uneven: 83 awards in 2022, 167 in 2023, 129 in 2024, 49 in 2025, and 76 year-to-date in 2026. The agency works with 1,301 distinct grant recipients, indicating a highly fragmented recipient base — the top five recipients by federal dollars obligated account for only 1 percent of recent federal dollars awarded across the portfolio.

The grant portfolio is dominated by Project Grants, which represent 95 percent of all awards (1,898 grants). Cooperative Agreements make up the remaining 5 percent of activity (98 awards). Among the top recipients by federal dollars over the last five years, University of Oklahoma leads with two awards totaling $9.1 million, followed by the Board of Regents of Nevada System of Higher Education ($6.6 million across two awards) and Neighbors Building Neighborhoods, Inc. ($6.4 million across two awards). The remainder of the 1,301-recipient population is distributed across awards in the sub-million to low-million-dollar range; no recipient dominates the portfolio.

SAMHSA's grant-making footprint suggests a deliberate strategy of spreading federal substance-abuse and mental-health resources across state and local organizations, community nonprofits, and academic institutions rather than concentrating funding among a small number of large awardees. Entities pursuing SAMHSA grants should expect highly competitive solicitations in which each award serves a distinct geographic or programmatic niche, and should tailor applications to specialized prevention or treatment populations rather than seeking broad-based funding.