The federal government recently announced it would cut an estimated $2 billion in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grants for programs that provide opioid treatment, youth prevention, homelessness and mental health services.
But as quickly as the notices went out, the cuts were rescinded without explanation.
The whiplash has thrown organizations that serve those vulnerable communities into turmoil.
Multiple organizations in Rhode Island, including CODAC Behavioral Healthcare, received notices from SAMHSA earlier this month that the grants would be terminated Jan. 13. The notice cited federal law allowing the agency to halt grants “if an award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.”
The notification letter identified its priorities as “promoting innovative programs and interventions that address the rising rates of mental illness and substance abuse conditions, overdose, and suicide and their connections to chronic diseases, homelessness, and other challenges our nation’s communities face.”
“I was stunned and just panicked,” said Linda Hurley, president and CEO at CODAC. “All of those programs met those needs.”
For her organization, which opened a wrap-around community health care center at 45 Royal Little Drive in Providence last year, it meant $500,000 was on the chopping block, and staff would lose their jobs, she said.
The federal government recently announced it would cut an estimated $2 billion in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grants for programs that provide opioid treatment, youth prevention, homelessness and mental health services.
“I was stunned and just panicked. All of those programs met those needs.”
