News Release

HHS Provides $98 Million in Access to Recovery Grants

Program Expands Client Choice in Substance Abuse Treatment Services

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today announced $98 million in new Access to Recovery (ATR) grants to provide people seeking drug and alcohol treatment with vouchers allowing them a greater range of choice in selecting the services most appropriate for their needs. Of the $98 million, approximately $2 million will be used to fund an independent evaluation of the program. 

To date, more than 170,000 people with substance abuse problems have received treatment and/or recovery support services through the first round of ATR grants awarded in August 2004, exceeding the three-year target of 125,000 people. 

“Access to Recovery provides needed resources for people trying to conquer addiction. It gives them broader treatment options, the ability to choose the treatment they believe will help them succeed, and greater access to recovery support services,’’ said HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt. “It’s a successful embodiment of the President’s goal to enable faith-based and community groups to serve more Americans across the country. This new round of grants will expand its reach.”

ATR is expanding treatment capacity and consumer choice in 18 states, five tribal organizations, and the District of Columbia.  These 24 ATR grants are an increase of more than 50 percent from the first cohort of 15 ATR grants. Three-year grants are being awarded to the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. 

The Alaska Southcentral Foundation, California Rural Indian Health Board, Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, Inc., Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the District of Columbia also are receiving awards.

“Access to Recovery programs provide vital help to those trying to get a new start in life,” said Jay Hein, Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.  “One of the unique ways that we offer this help is through a voucher that enables those seeking treatment to select their own treatment option.  This approach unleashes hundreds of new faith-based and community options otherwise not available when government alone determines who can provide the services."

“Access to Recovery brings a message of hope to all Americans who struggle with addiction,” said John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. “So far, more than 170,000 people with substance abuse problems have received help through Access to Recovery. We will build on this record of success with this new round of grants and offer the opportunity for recovery to hundreds of thousands more.”  

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) administers the grant program within HHS. 

“Providing people who have substance abuse problems with choices regarding their treatment and recovery supports makes sense,” said SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline, Ph.D. “It helps empower them from the very beginning in the fight for their life.  Access to Recovery provides individuals the flexibility needed to find their own path to recovery.” 

In their applications, grantees delineated a process for screening and determining appropriate services for the individual client.  Clients will be assessed, given a voucher for identified services, and provided with a list of appropriate service providers from which to choose.  Continuation of these awards is subject to availability of funds and progress achieved by the awardees. Grantees proposed a broad range of innovative approaches and target populations.  

The grantees were competitively chosen from applications from 27 states, the District of Columbia, and 12 tribes.  The actual award amount in any one year will depend on the availability of funds.  Awards may be adjusted based on the number of individuals proposed to be served per year.  Amounts to be awarded for continuation awards in year three will be 95 percent of the amount available awarded for continuation awards in year two, to create a pool of funds for supplemental performance based awards.

For more information on the Access to Recovery Grants program, visit: http://www.atr.samhsa.gov/. For more information  on SAMHSA, visit: http://www.samhsa.gov/ .

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last revised: January 12, 2009