Federal govt abruptly cuts, restores Atlanta nonprofit’s mental health funds
Katie Cook was shocked this week when the Atlanta-area nonprofit where she works received a notice from the Trump administration canceling $125,000 of its grant funding for mental health training.
The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration sent Cook’s National Alliance on Mental Illness Georgia a letter Tuesday, saying its training program no longer aligned with the federal agency’s priorities. The letter described those priorities as supporting “innovative programs and interventions that address the rising rates of mental illness and substance abuse conditions, overdose, and suicide.”
“It was just so unexpected,” said Cook, associate director of awareness and affiliates for NAMI Georgia, which trains people to offer classes and support groups promoting mental health. “I didn’t quite know what to think. My immediate thought, of course, was, ‘We are not the only ones. How many people lost their jobs today?’”
Cook’s nonprofit is among more than 2,000 addiction and mental health programs nationwide that received funding cancellation notices from SAMHSA this week totaling nearly $2 billion, The New York Times reported. A Trump administration official told the Times and NPR on Wednesday the money was being restored but declined to say why.
SAMHSA sent Cook’s nonprofit an email Thursday, telling it to “disregard the prior termination notice and continue program activities as outlined in your award agreement.”
“It has definitely been a whirlwind,” Cook said.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wasn’t immediately able to determine how many other Georgia organizations received such notices from SAMHSA. The federal agency did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The agency’s rapid moves came as nonprofit, humanitarian organization and university officials were already on edge. Since last year, the Trump administration has cut billions of dollars in federal foreign and domestic aid and university research funding. The cuts have caused upheaval for employers, prompting them to cut services, slash wages and lay off thousands of workers.
Meanwhile, Georgia ranks 46th among states for access to health insurance and mental health care, according to a report published last year by Mental Health America, a Virginia-based nonprofit that promotes well-being.
Suicide remains a leading cause of death in America. And while there has been a significant decline in drug overdose deaths in recent months, tens of thousands of people are still dying from them each year in the United States.
SAMHSA reportedly reversed its cuts after a bipartisan group of 100 House members sent Health and Human Service Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a letter Wednesday, calling for the funding to be restored. Democratic U.S. Reps. Sanford Bishop and Nikema Williams of Georgia were among those who signed the letter.
NAMI’s national office near Washington also pushed for the funding cuts to be reversed.
“These cuts caused great — and warranted — panic,” said Hannah Wesolowski, NAMI’s chief advocacy officer. “They should never have been considered in the first place, and we will be working with our champions to ensure life-saving mental health funding is protected moving forward.”
About the Author
Jeremy Redmon is an award-winning journalist, essayist and educator with more than three decades of experience reporting for newspapers. He has written for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 2005.
