On November 30, 2021, a photo, syringes and vials of naloxone are displayed during the media tour of the OnPoint supervised drug injection site, in New York.
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A Trump administration official confirmed to NPR that sweeping cuts to mental health and addiction programs worth more than $2 billion have been reversed.
The funding termination letters were issued late Tuesday night, sending shockwaves through the nation’s public health system. Letters will be sent soon to restore this funding.
After political backlash from Republicans and Democrats, the Department of Health and Human Services reversed course and the grant money will be restored.
This decision to end funding completely caught caregivers across the United States by surprise, sparking a strong negative reaction from lawmakers in Washington and from organizations across the country. The story was first reported by NPR.
Now an administration official with direct knowledge of the decision, who asked NPR to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to talk about the change, says the decision has been reversed and the grants have been restored.
More than 2,000 organizations and grant recipients are being notified as quickly as possible, according to the source.
Public health advocates said their organizations are breathing a sigh of relief but also feeling anxiety and tremors.
“It’s been a day of panic across the country. People are deeply concerned but hoping to get this money back,” said Hannah Wesolowski of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
“This signals bipartisan support in Congress for mental health. We’ve heard from offices on both sides of the political aisle who have been working on this issue all day,” she added.
The termination letters sent Tuesday bluntly stated that a wide range of mental health and addiction programs do not align with the Trump administration’s public health agenda and will no longer be funded. This surprised the caregivers.
The backlash led to a series of high-level meetings within the Trump administration, and by Wednesday evening the decision was reversed.
NPR was unable to determine who made the initial decision to cut off these funds, nor did sources say who made the decision to restore the funds.
Public health officials across the United States described the past 48 hours as chaotic.