Sara Howe has already seen what can happen when there’s a sudden loss of funding for drug treatment and mental health programs.
It happened in Illinois in 2008, after then-governor Rod Blagojevich slashed $55 million from the state budget that was intended to fund substance abuse prevention programs and treatment centers.
At the time, Howe was employed by the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health, a statewide organization that represents agencies that focus on prevention, treatment and recovery for addiction.
Sara Howe (Courtesy photo)“I know of people who were thrown out of treatment who did not survive,” Howe said. “I saw it firsthand. I lived it and it was devastating.”
Howe is currently chief executive officer of Addiction Professionals of North Carolina, a trade association for substance use professionals and providers. She spoke to NC Newsline just as the Trump administration reversed its sudden decision to terminate $2 billion in funding for drug addiction treatment and prevention programs.
The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) sent letters to service providers late Tuesday night, announcing that several critical federal grants supporting mental health and substance abuse prevention services were being terminated effective immediately “due to a shift in federal priorities.”
In North Carolina, the loss of the federal grants would have affected several programs funded by that money through the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS).
“It was eerily similar to what I saw and what I lived in Illinois,” Howe said.
Howe’s organization receives funding through NCDHHS from one of the substance abuse prevention grants that was targeted for termination. She said it would have been “devastating” for service providers and patients.
“It was really a wholesale decimation of the system, and I don’t say that lightly or hyperbolically,” Howe said. “When we started talking to our members, these grant terminations cut across every part of the system.”
Just as suddenly, SAMSHA sent a second letter Wednesday night reinstating the grants, but didn’t provide an explanation for the abrupt reversal.
“Your award will remain active under its original terms and conditions,” SAMHSA told service providers. “Please disregard the prior termination notice and continue program activities as outlined in your award agreement.”
The reversal came as a huge relief to Howe and other providers. But the chaos created by the federal move left many of them shaken and worried about the Trump administration’s commitment to their mission.
“That’s a concern because the work we do directly saves lives,” she said.
Howe said it forced service providers to consider tough decisions. “Providers in Illinois had to consider the same types of decisions that our providers were making yesterday,” she said. “Who do we lay off? What services do we close down? Who do we get rid of?”
Cutting funding for drug treatment would impede the administration’s goal of stopping the flow of drugs into America, Howe said.
“You can stop the supply all you want, but if you do not address demand, you’re not going to fix it,” Howe said. “Where there is demand, there is a supply. It’s street economic principles. I think we have to work hand in hand and recognize that we need both.”
Amy Brundle (Photo: NAMI NC)Amy Brundle, director of marketing and communications for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) NC, said the decision to restore the $2 billion in grants was a welcome surprise. “But we really shouldn’t need to be having this conversation at all because these grants have already been approved by Congress,” Brundle said.
NAMI NC provides education and support programming to people with mental health disorders and their families. It also works to raise public awareness around mental health-related issues and how they impact people in North Carolina.
Brundle said that “boots on the ground organizations” providing community support and direct service are meeting a need by helping to make sure that people are “alive and safe and able to function and thrive in society.”
The federal grant NAMI NC received was not targeted for termination, Brundle said, but many of the organizations the group works with would have been affected.
“Without them, I don’t really want to think too deeply about what the impacts would have been,” Brundle said. “We’re talking about catastrophic impacts over time.”
NCDHHS grants that would have been impacted include:
NC Healthy Transitions for Youth and Young Adults with Serious Mental Disorders FY2023 Strategic Prevention Framework – Partnerships for Success for States (North Carolina) North Carolina Grants to Prevent Prescription Drug/Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths (PDO) North Carolina Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drugs (SPF-Rx) NC System of Care Expansion: Focus on Governance Development and High-Fidelity Wraparound ProgramBrundle said the loss of federal funding for those programs would have created severe hardships for people with mental illnesses who rely on grant-funded health care providers for treatment.
“Without these organizations being fully funded to do their work, there would be no community support for mental health, and not everything can be thrown back on the healthcare system,” Brundle said. “Organizations like ours exist for a reason.”
Hence then, the article about nc mental health drug treatment providers left reeling by sudden federal funding cut reversal was published today ( ) and is available on NC news line ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( NC mental health, drug treatment providers left reeling by sudden federal funding cut, reversal )
Also on site :