The "Building Capacity for Care Act" aims to significantly expand the nation's capacity for mental health and substance use disorder treatment. It authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to offer various forms of financial assistance, including loans, loan guarantees, and grants, to eligible entities.

These funds can be used for several critical purposes: purchasing, planning, constructing, or renovating pediatric or adult mental health and substance use disorder treatment facilities. Additionally, the bill supports improving digital infrastructure, telehealth capabilities, and other patient care infrastructure, or adding/converting beds for psychiatric and substance use inpatient care. Refinancing existing loans for these purposes is also permitted under specific conditions.

Eligible entities include a broad range of public, private for-profit, and private not-for-profit organizations such as hospitals, specialized treatment facilities, and alliances of such providers. To qualify, projects must aim to increase bed capacity in counties with insufficient services, provide care in high-need rural or underresourced communities, offer a continuum of care, or deliver integrated/specialized care for complex cases.

The bill prioritizes grant funding for entities located in areas designated as mental health professional shortage areas or those with higher-than-average drug overdose death rates or suicide rates. It also establishes specific terms and conditions for loans and loan guarantees, including maturity limits, guarantee percentages, and interest rate benchmarks, while requiring borrowers to finance at least 25 percent of the project from other sources.

For fiscal years 2025 through 2029, the bill authorizes $200,000,000 annually for loans and loan guarantees, and an additional $200,000,000 annually for grants. Furthermore, it establishes a Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment Trust Fund to deposit excess revenues from the loan program, with these funds then available for community mental health services block grants.