The Trump administration reversed the cancellation of approximately 2,000 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grants representing nearly $2 billion in funding on Wednesday, hours after the abrupt Tuesday-night cuts had already prompted grant recipients to lay off employees and cancel services. Grant recipients told the Associated Press they had not yet received direct notification of the reinstatements by Wednesday evening, and the reason for the reversal was not made public.
The episode drew immediate criticism from congressional Democrats and left providers of opioid treatment, mental health care, drug prevention, and peer support services uncertain about the stability of federal funding for programs serving communities affected by addiction, mental illness, and homelessness.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handling of the matter was dangerous and haphazard.
“He must be cautious when making decisions that will impact Americans’ health,” DeLauro said in a statement. “I hope this reversal serves as a lesson learned.”
Cancellations arrived by email with limited explanation
SAMHSA notified grant recipients on Tuesday evening that their funding was canceled effective immediately. The letters, signed by SAMHSA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher Carroll, cited a regulation permitting the agency to terminate any federal award that “no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.” Recipients told the AP they were confused by that justification and received no additional explanation for why their work was judged inconsistent with SAMHSA’s priorities.
“The goal of our grants is entirely in line with the priorities listed in that letter,” said Jamie Ross, CEO of the Las Vegas-based PACT Coalition, a community organization focused on substance use issues, which lost funding from three grants totaling $560,000.
The National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors estimated the affected awards totaled around 2,000 grants and approximately $2 billion — roughly a quarter of SAMHSA’s overall budget. The association said the cuts appeared to focus on grants classified as Programs of Regional and National Significance. Block grants, 988 suicide and crisis lifeline funding, and Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics were reported to have been spared.
Providers had already begun cutting staff and services
By Wednesday, organizations reeling from the cancellations had begun taking action. Robert Franks, CEO of the Baker Center for Children and Families, a Boston-based mental health provider, said his organization had been told it was losing two federal grants totaling $1 million. He said the loss would force staff layoffs and put care in jeopardy for approximately 600 families. One of the canceled grants had been awarded through the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, a program more than 20 years old that supports specialized care for children who have experienced traumatic events ranging from sexual abuse to school violence.
“Without that funding, people are going to lose access to lifesaving services,” said Yngvild Olsen, former director of SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and a national adviser at Manatt Health.
Both Ross and Ryan Hampton, founder of the advocacy nonprofit Mobilize Recovery, told the AP they had not been notified of any reversal to the grant cancellations as of Wednesday evening.
Reversal reported but not confirmed to recipients
Reports of the reinstatements appeared Wednesday evening in The New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post, and other outlets. HHS spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment, and the administration did not publicly explain the decision to reverse course. Franks, who had spoken earlier in the day about the impact of the cuts, could not be reached to respond to news of the reinstatements.
The SAMHSA grant cancellations were part of broader spending reductions at HHS that have included the elimination of thousands of jobs and the freezing or canceling of billions of dollars in scientific research funding.