On May 18, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced that it was distributing $3 billion in block grant funds authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act. According to SAMHSA’s press release, this marked “the largest aggregate amount of funding to date” for its mental health and substance use block grant programs. This funding traces back to the American Rescue Plan Act, which was signed into law by President Biden on March 11. The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package included numerous provisions to support the healthcare industry and healthcare providers, including $3.5 billion specifically for behavioral health programs. Of that $3.5 billion, $1.5 billion was allocated for SAMHSA’s Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG) Program and $1.5 billion for its Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant Program (SABG). A division of HHS, SAMHSA is the federal agency primarily responsible for supporting community-based mental health and substance abuse treatment and prevention services. However, SAMHSA does not directly provide mental health or substance abuse treatment services. It provides funding to states, local communities, and private entities through various grant programs that, in turn, fund organizations that provide mental health and substance abuse services. SAMHSA’s two largest programs are the SABG and the MHBG mentioned above. The MHBG supports mental health services for adults with serious mental illness and children with serious emotional disturbance. Program funds flow from SAMHSA to the states to local government entities, nongovernmental organizations, and healthcare providers that deliver services. Rules concerning use of the funds are determined by each state, but federal law says that no more than 5% of the funding can be used for administrative expenses and at least 10% of funds must be spent on programs that address early, serious mental illness.