This story has been updated.
The Trump administration slashed then restored roughly $2 billion in mental health and addiction services grants between Tuesday and Wednesday evening, leaving Connecticut officials and advocates concerned and scrambling, then relieved and exhausted.
The cuts would have affected some 2,000 programs across the country. On Wednesday advocates and agencies struggled to assess the impact, only to learn that the decision had been reversed that evening.
The reversal comes after a day of extreme pressure from advocates and lawmakers on the state and national level, who called the decision to cut the grants “pointedly cruel,” “nonsensical,” “unconscionable and unjustifiable.”
A spokesman for Gov. Ned Lamont said the quick reversal caused a sense of “whiplash.”
“As if the Trump administration’s arbitrary cuts to mental health and substance use funding weren’t cruel enough, the whiplash of cutting and then restoring those funds only deepens anxiety for the people who depend on these services,” said Rob Blanchard, a Lamont’s spokesman. “For those seeking help, these programs are a critical lifeline. While the restoration of funding is a relief, it should never have been halted in the first place. The public and nonprofits deserve the certainty of knowing they can count on the federal government.”
On Thursday, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, held Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responsible.
“After national outrage, Secretary Kennedy has bowed to public pressure and reinstated $2 billion in SAMHSA grants that save lives,” DeLauro said in a statement. “These are cuts he should not have issued in the first place. He must be cautious when making decisions that will impact Americans’ health. Our policy must be thoughtful — not haphazard and chaotic. This episode has only created uncertainty and confusion for families and health care providers. I hope this reversal serves as a lesson learned. Congress holds the power of the purse, and the Secretary must follow the law.”
“To say I’m relieved is an understatement,” said Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield, co-chair of the Public Health Committee, on Thursday morning. “But I am still left wondering, why? The initial decision resulted in a day of uncertainty, with agencies scrambling and scared. The people supported by these SAMSHA (Substance and Mental Health Services Administration) funds need steadiness and certainty not chaos and fear.”
The Wheeler Clinic, which has several locations in the state, was among the providers that received letters late Tuesday that grants had been cancelled. President and CEO Sabrina Trocchi spent the day meeting with colleagues, calling congressional representatives to make the case for the cut programs, and trying to figure out how to retain employees who would otherwise have to be laid off.
Three programs would have been cut — one that delivered medication assisted treatment in Waterbury, one working to help incarcerated people reenter their communities in Greater New Britain, and one that trains emergency responders to better assist people experiencing a mental health episode. On Thursday afternoon, Trocchi received notice that the funds had been restored.
“Many staff yesterday across a number of these federally funded programs left their employer, not knowing if they had a job the next day,” Trocchi said. “It’s just absolutely devastating.”
She said the reversal gave her hope, but the events of the past 24 hours have left her feeling uneasy.
“One of the takeaways for me is that this isn’t the end. We know that we’ve been dealing with this now for approximately a year, where there are either executive orders that are coming out, or contractual language changes at the federal level that impact the work we do and how we do it,” Trocchi said. “This last example of receiving these termination letters overnight that were immediately [rescinded], it really continues to increase the chaos within the day to day work that we’re trying to do, and our work is just so critical and needed today more than ever.”