Kennedy Reinstates SAMHSA Grants After Abrupt Cancellation

Washington, D.C. (KFMO) - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reversed course Wednesday, restoring nearly $2 billion in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grants that had been abruptly pulled just a day earlier.

The cuts, which affected about 2,000 mental health and addiction program grants, drew swift bipartisan backlash from lawmakers and health advocates who warned they would jeopardize critical services for vulnerable populations. The abrupt cancellation had threatened services ranging from addiction treatment and overdose prevention to mental health support nationwide, raising concerns about layoffs and disruptions in care before the reversal.

With the funding originally pulled, this affected the STOP Act program, a grant that the Iron County Health Coalition is a recipient of. This STOP Act grant provides funding to support prevention efforts in Iron County, which helped maintain core coalition infrastructure and move prevention work forward including: helping support coalition staffing and salaries, supporting youth coalition activities and youth leadership efforts, providing prevention education and outreach funding and strengthening community awareness and prevention programming.

Kennedy’s move to reinstate the funding followed intense public pressure and condemnation from members of Congress.