by Karla Ciaglo
Nearly $2 billion in federal grants for addiction treatment and mental health programs were confirmed restored Wednesday night after bipartisan backlash and national outrage over their abrupt cancellation, reversing a decision that Connecticut officials warned would disrupt care statewide.
US Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, confirmed in a statement that US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reinstated the grants nearly 24 hours after providers nationwide were notified they were being terminated.
The funding is administered through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and supports community-based addiction treatment, mental health services, recovery programs and overdose prevention efforts across the country.
Late Tuesday night, roughly 2,000 programs nationwide received termination notices stating that the grants were being eliminated effective immediately. The canceled grants accounted for about one-quarter of SAMHSA’s overall budget and primarily funded discretionary, community-based programs rather than formula-driven state block grants.
In Connecticut, nonprofit providers said the notices triggered immediate contingency planning and raised fears of layoffs, service reductions, and program closures.
The Connecticut Community Nonprofit Alliance estimated that about $11.5 million in federal funding supporting substance use treatment, mental health awareness, school-based trauma services, peer support, and family support programs in the state was at risk before the reversal. Affected providers included Wheeler Clinic, McCall Behavioral Health Network, Community Health Resources, Rushford, and Bridges Healthcare.
Gian Carl Casa, president and chief executive of the alliance, warned of the gravity of the cuts.
“We know that without necessary funding many programs will simply cease to operate and lives will be lost,” Casa said.
Termination notices cited a lack of alignment with administration priorities but did not include program-specific explanations, according to providers and national reporting.
The reversal followed intense criticism from advocacy groups and rapid lobbying by lawmakers from both parties, including a reported letter sent to Kennedy signed by roughly 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
State Sen. Ceci Maher, D-Wilton, said the sudden cancellation had threatened to undermine progress the state has made in addressing addiction and mental health needs.
“The mental health and addiction needs in our communities are real,” Maher said. “Instability at the federal level puts that progress at risk.”
Recent national trends and provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show overdose deaths have declined nationally by more than 20% for two years, reversing a nearly two decade upward trend.
Public health officials have attributed the decline in part to expanded access to treatment, naloxone distribution, and community-based recovery programs supported through federal funding.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont criticized the initial termination of the grants, calling the move destabilizing.
“Halting previously promised funding jeopardizes care for some of our most vulnerable residents,” Lamont said.
A recent national poll conducted in December by Ipsos for the National Alliance on Mental Illness found broad opposition to federal cuts to mental health programs and staffing, as well as concern that reductions would weaken local services, suicide prevention efforts, and crisis response capacity.
Before the reversal, state Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor and Senate chair of the Public Health Committee, said the timing of the cuts was particularly concerning.
“Just as Connecticut is making progress in reducing overdose deaths, this decision makes our work harder and disconnects people from programs that provide life-changing aid,” Anwar said.
The episode follows earlier bipartisan warnings about disruptions at the SAMHSA. In an October 2025 letter to HHS, a group of Democratic lawmakers called on the department to reinstate staff they said were illegally fired and to disclose the impact of departmental reorganization and reductions in force. The lawmakers warned that SAMHSA’s staffing levels had been reduced by more than half since the start of the Trump administration, undermining congressional intent and weakening the agency’s ability to respond to the nation’s ongoing mental health and substance use crisis.
Concerns about plans to end SAMHSA’s status as an independent agency and fold it into a broader “Administration for a Healthy America” were also addressed.
“The work of SAMHSA is not a partisan priority. It should be a priority for every American, every member of Congress and every Administration,” read the letter.