RFK Jr. Expands Faith-Based Addiction Care as Drug Use and Homelessness Rise

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 4, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Amid mounting drug use and homelessness in U.S. cities, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the federal government is overhauling the way it fights addiction.

The strategy announced Monday includes a new focus on faith-based recovery programs and increased access to medication treatment.

Kennedy announced plans to open federal funding to religious organizations that provide addiction care, while launching new programs aimed at helping people who are homeless and struggling with mental illness or substance use get long-term support.

Kennedy, who has spoken openly about overcoming a 14-year heroin addiction with help from 12-step programs, said the current health system has often caused people to “cycle endlessly between sidewalks, emergency room visits, jails and mental hospitals and shelters.”

He said substance use plays a major role in homelessness and called for more intensive recovery programs that help people learn how to live in the community and find jobs.

Kennedy said that he had seen many people turn their lives around in “sober homes and recovery houses.”

As part of the plan, federal funding, including state opioid response grants, will now be open to faith-based organizations.

“We are bringing faith-based providers fully into this work,” Kennedy said. “This is a chronic disease. It’s a physical disease, it’s a mental disease, it’s emotional disease, but above all, it’s spiritual disease. And we need to recognize that and faith-based organizations play a critical role.”

At the same time, Kennedy announced a major expansion of access to medications for opioid use disorder.

States and native tribes will be allowed to use federal child protection funds to help addicted parents receive treatments like buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone.

The goal? To keep families together and avoid the need for children to enter foster care.

Dr. Yngvild Olsen, formerly with Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, told The New York Times that the change “has the potential to save lives.”

Kennedy also introduced a new $100 million pilot program called STREETS, an acronym for Safety Through Recovery, Engagement and Evidence-Based Treatment and Supports.

The program is designed for people who are homeless and living with addiction or serious mental illness.

“We’ll engage people continuously, from first contact on the street through recovery, through employment and through self-sufficiency,” Kennedy said. “Law enforcement, courts, housing providers and health care systems will work as one team, so people will no longer fall through the cracks.”

He also announced a $10 million grant to expand assisted outpatient treatment, which allows courts to require people with serious mental health issues to receive care in the community.