NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration has made steep and drastic cuts to substance abuse and mental health programs across the country, in a move that advocates said would put the lives of some of the country’s most vulnerable at risk.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration canceled about 2,000 grants representing nearly $2 billion in funding late Tuesday, according to an administration official with knowledge of the cuts who was not authorized to discuss them publicly.
The move pulls back funding for a wide range of discretionary grants and accounts for about a quarter of SAMHSA’s total budget. It builds on other broad cuts that have been made at the US Department of Health and Human Services, including eliminating thousands of jobs and freezing or canceling billions of dollars for scientific research.
The latest funding cuts immediately jeopardize programs that provide direct mental health services, opioid treatment, drug prevention resources, peer support and more to communities affected by addiction, mental illness and homelessness.
“Without this funding, people will lose access to lifesaving services,” said Yngvild Olsen, former director of SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and national counsel at Manatt Health. “Providers will really have to look at possible redundancies and not being able to continue.”
Funding related to agency priorities
SAMHSA, a sub-agency of HHS, notified grant recipients that their funding would be canceled immediately in letters emailed late Tuesday, according to multiple copies received by the organizations and reviewed by The Associated Press.
The letters, signed by SAMHSA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher Carroll, justified the terminations using a regulation that says the agency can terminate any federal award that “no longer carries out the program’s objectives or the agency’s priorities.”
Grantees who were notified of the cancellations said they were confused by that explanation and didn’t get more details about why the agency felt their work didn’t fit SAMHSA’s priorities.
“The focus of our grants is entirely consistent with the priorities listed in that letter,” said Jamie Ross, CEO of the Las Vegas PACT Coalition, a community organization focused on substance use issues that lost funding from three grants totaling $560,000.
HHS did not respond to a request for comment on the funding cancellations, which were first reported by NPR. Two sources within SAMHSA who were not authorized to speak to the media said staff had not been widely informed of the agency’s action.
Programs at risk after funding is cut
Organizations reeling from the news Wednesday told the AP they have already been forced to cut staff and cancel training. In the long term, many wondered whether they could keep the programs alive by shuffling them to different sources of funding, or whether they should stop the services altogether.
Robert Franks, CEO of Boston-based mental health provider Baker Center for Children and Families, which lost two federal grants totaling $1 million, said the loss of funding will force his organization to lay off staff and jeopardize care for about 600 families who receive it. One of the canceled grants was awarded through the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, a more than 20-year-old program that supports specialized care for children who have experienced traumatic events ranging from sexual abuse to school violence.
Franks said his organization’s work directly advances SAMHSA’s goals to address mental illness. He said the trauma care provided to children through his organization helps people from all walks of life and reduces burdens on other parts of society.
“The reality is that these programs are probably our most effective tool in addressing the issues that they identify as critical to them,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t understand.”
The National Association of County Directors of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, a group that represents local organizations that provide safety net services, sent a letter to its members Wednesday noting that many of its partners estimated the funding pullbacks focused on grants classified as Programs of Regional and National Importance. They also said the grants totaled about 2,000 and probably totaled about $2 billion.
The group said it believed certain block grants, 988 suicide and crisis funding and certified community behavioral health clinics were spared the cuts.
For Honesty Liller, CEO of the peer support organization McShin Foundation in Richmond, Va., the loss of about $1.4 million in funding is personal. She said the foundation she runs saved her life 18 years ago when she was struggling with a heroin addiction.
The terminated grant has already forced Liller to lay off five staff members. It will mean that fewer colleagues are available to go into local jails and visit incarcerated people recovering from substance abuse disorder.
“They need dealers of hope like us, they need people who have lived experience in recovery and they need this funding,” Liller said. “I’ve never felt so punched in the gut.”