RFK Jr. unlocks federal funds to help parents battling addiction keep children out of foster care

EXCLUSIVE — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will unveil a new effort Tuesday to help parents battling addiction stay with their children and receive community support, making family reunification a central piece of the Trump administration’s broader push to combat the nation’s addiction crisis.The initiative will make two peer-support addiction recovery programs available to states nationwide and, crucially, allow states to receive full federal reimbursement for providing the services through the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse.Senior administration officials told the Washington Examiner that the goal is to intervene before parental addiction breaks apart families, giving states more resources to help parents recover while reducing the number of children who enter foster care. “Addiction tears families apart,” Kennedy said in a statement. “Recovery brings parents home and keeps children with the families who love them. Under President Trump’s Great American Recovery, we are expanding proven peer support that helps parents overcome addiction, strengthens families, and keeps children out of foster care.”Kennedy will make the announcement at an event at 3 p.m. Eastern at the MercyOne House of Mercy in Des Moines, Iowa, alongside White House senior adviser for addiction recovery Kathryn Burgum, HHS assistant secretary for the administration for children and families Alex Adams, and Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA). Iowa is the first state in the nation to adopt the new programs.The new policy announcement is the latest development in the Trump administration’s Great American Recovery initiative, led by Kennedy and Burgum, both of whom have been open about their personal struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, respectively.The Administration for Children and Families, a subagency of HHS, has determined that two new peer-support interventions meet the evidence-based standards for addiction treatment that states can provide, which will be eligible for federal matching funds. Peer-support programs pair people battling addiction with individuals who have firsthand experience navigating addiction and recovery.The first program, focusing on family-based recovery, delivers “intensive in-home clinical treatment to support parents of children ages 0-5” by providing a weekly peer support meeting, “ensuring children develop in a safe, substance-free, and stable home with their parents.”The second program, the Wellness Recovery Action Plan, connects people in recovery with “trained peer facilitators” to help “coach” enrollees “through recovery concepts and helps participants respond to and recover from crises.”Since its launch in January, the Great American Recovery initiative has emerged as a central piece of Kennedy’s broader Make America Healthy Again agenda.In June, Kennedy and Burgum announced a $700 million investment to combat addiction and mental illness, on top of the $100 million project to combat opioid addiction that was announced in early February. Last week, Kennedy and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner also unveiled a new policy favoring the “treatment first” model for helping homeless people with addiction as part of the broader Trump anti-addiction initiative.The two new recovery programs also expand the A Home for Every Child initiative by attempting to keep children out of foster care and reunify children with their parents while they are in active recovery.Nationally, about 35% of children are placed in foster care due to parental drug abuse, and another 5% are removed from the home due to parental alcohol abuse.“Parental substance use disorder is a leading cause of child entry into foster care,” Adams said. “The Trump Administration has already strengthened the suite of services available to both prevent and treat this disease, and today’s action doubles down on evidence-based prevention by unlocking federal matching funds for proven programs that integrate peer support.”Burgum said peer support is a high priority for the Trump administration’s national anti-addiction initiative because it “remains one of the biggest gaps in our recovery system.”“Peer support specialists are living proof that recovery is possible,” Burgum said. “Their lived experience is a powerful source of hope, connection and guidance for families working to overcome the chronic disease of addiction.”Iowa has one of the highest rates of alcohol abuse in the country, according to the state’s health department. As of 2022, roughly 22% of Iowans reported binge drinking, defined as five or more drinks within two hours for men, within the past 30 days, compared to the national average of 16% of U.S. adults. There were 836 alcohol-related deaths in Iowa in 2020.In addition to strengthening peer-to-peer recovery coaching programs, the initiative will also help the 3,058 children in Iowa’s foster care system be reunited with their family members while they are in active recovery without jeopardizing the child’s welfare.‘TREATMENT FIRST’ IS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S SOLUTION TO ADDICTION AND HOMELESSNESSReynolds said in a press release that she is proud her state is the “first in the nation to adopt new peer-support interventions” for addiction recovery.“By responding to addiction and supporting struggling families, we’re building a stronger America: one where recovery is real, every child has a home, and hope is never out of reach for anyone,” Reynolds said.