New York — Elizabeth Woike was cautiously optimistic when she saw news reports that it had almost happened $2 billion in grants that Trump administration Those pulled from substance abuse and mental health programs across the country the day before may be reinstated.
Then he got an email at 2 a.m. Thursday from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reiterating the cuts — and he didn’t know what to think anymore.
“I just shook my head,” said Woike, CEO of BestSelf Behavioral Health, a mental health and substance use disorder treatment company in Buffalo, New York. “It’s a hot mess.” As it turns out, the second termination letter was sent in error. She and nearly 2,000 other grant recipients nationwide were notified later Thursday morning that their federal funding had already been restored.
Woike feeling infected over the past two days has been a common experience for providers, government health agencies and Americans receiving services amid the Trump administration’s cancellation, then suddenly reinstatement, granting this support Some of the most vulnerable people in the country.
It’s based on what program directors say it has become A pattern of uncertainty From this administration that was repeated Eliminate millions of dollars in federal funding Sometimes without warning Reverse path In decisions about what will and will not be covered. Woike said impermanence makes it impossible for organizations like hers to make long-term plans.
“No one is looking to expand or really trying to ramp up services to meet the needs of the community,” she said. “Everyone is just cutting costs, looking to put every penny and every resource aside.”
The administration first informed grant recipients that their funding was being withdrawn in emails Tuesday evening, according to copies received by the organizations and reviewed by The Associated Press.
On Wednesday, several organizations told the AP they had already made difficult decisions in response to the cuts, including laying off staff and canceling scheduled trainings.
By Wednesday evening, news reports indicated the cuts could be reversed, but grant recipients had not yet been notified of the change. Some said they instead received confusing emails overnight repeating termination notices or instructing them on how to close their grants within 30 days.
It was not until Thursday morning that grant recipients began receiving emails stating that the grant termination was “hereby cancelled.”
Even then, not everyone could rest easy. Sarah Howe, CEO of Addiction Professionals of North Carolina, said members of her professional association still worry about whether their funding is secure.
“Anytime this happens, you end up in a situation where you’re like, ‘Is it okay to breathe?’ Haw said. “It puts everyone on really unstable, shaky ground.”
An administration official with knowledge of the decision, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, confirmed that the grants were being restored, but did not say why. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services did not answer a question about the administration’s reasons and declined to comment on the confusion resulting from the situation.
Democratic lawmakers raged against the Trump administration over the uncertainty and pressure they caused by cutting grants and then suddenly reversing course.
House Appropriations Committee member Rep. Rosa DeLauro called Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.’s decision-making process dangerous and haphazard after grant recipients began laying off employees based on original plans.
“He must be careful when making decisions that will affect the health of Americans,” DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, said in a statement. “I hope this reversal serves as a lesson learned.”
Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin told the AP in a statement that the incident “caused real chaos and harm for Americans — and now, they need to come forward and give families some answers about why they caused this mess.”
Providers said they were scrambling to undo changes they had already made in response to the cuts. Honesty Liller, CEO of the peer support organization McShane Foundation in Richmond, Virginia, said she was working on the logistics of getting five laid-off employees back to their jobs.
Ryan Hampton, founder of the advocacy nonprofit Mobilize Recovery, said he was relieved to restore funding to his organization and others, but criticized the administration for putting life-saving services at risk in the first place.
“Restoring these grants was the only acceptable outcome, yet the chaos wreaked on frontline providers and families over the past 24 hours is unforgivable,” he said. “We cannot normalize a political environment where overdose prevention and recovery is treated as leverage.”