California’s hard-fought progress to improve mental health and substance use care faces a new challenge after billions in federal grant cuts
Sacramento, CA – On January 13, the federal government abruptly terminated Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grants that support community-based mental health and substance use disorder services across the country—potentially affecting thousands of grantees and $1.9B in funding.
SAMHSA has played a critical role in helping states and communities expand access to life-saving mental health and substance use care—services like homelessness outreach, peer recovery support, and overdose prevention. They help states and local providers build capacity to reach people earlier, respond more effectively to crisis, and connect individuals to treatment and recovery when and where they need it.
These cuts dismantle hard-won progress that took decades to build.
Grantees could be forced to downsize or shut down entirely, disrupting vital community-based care. People needing care will lose access to essential services, ending up in emergency rooms, jails, or on the streets. Ultimately, lives will be lost as a result of these cuts.
“These grant cuts undermine years of work to build a more compassionate and effective behavioral health system. Community-based services that are at risk, including street outreach, peer recovery, and overdose prevention, save lives. Pulling federal support from these services will have devastating consequences for people, families, and communities—including here in California—and will make it harder to achieve meaningful, lasting reform.”
Karen Larsen, CEO of Steinberg Institute
In California, a state that has made historic investments in behavioral health over the past decade, the federal cuts threaten to undermine important progress. State and local systems cannot succeed when federal partners reverse course without warning and destabilize services that communities depend on every day.
SAMHSA has not announced details of the grant cuts—a tactic that only stokes fear and panic. While it is still unclear which California programs will be affected, the Steinberg Institute will continue fighting to expand access to behavioral health care and protect the lives of Californians.