SAMHSA faces major staffing cuts

The Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the federal agency that leads efforts on mental health and substance use, is facing threats of major staff and funding cuts.

What’s happened so far:

• Roughly 100 employees at SAMHSA — more than 10% of the agency’s workforce — were let go a few weeks ago when the administration got rid of many probationary employees (those new to their roles in the past couple of years).
• Two of SAMHSA’s regional offices were gutted and are no longer staffed.
• The leaders of the 988 national crisis hotline and the Office of Recovery stepped down or retired in the last month.
• Employees report that SAMHSA’s current acting head lacks the policy expertise to lead the agency.

What’s coming:

• The Trump administration instructed agencies to submit memos last week for how they could further reduce their workforce. The cuts could amount to 50-70% of the agency’s workforce.
• There is widespread talk that the administration may fold SAMHSA into another health agency, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
• Some agencies (such as CDC and the Food and Drug Administration) have recently been allowed to rehire probationary employees that had been laid off, but SAMHSA leadership has not asked anyone to return.
• Funding for centers focused on treating mental health and substance use disorders of specific populations, such as Black and LGBTQ communities, is unlikely to be reauthorized.

But: President Trump and HHS Secretary Kennedy have both been outspoken about the need to address the overdose crisis. Cutting SAMHSA would clearly work counter to that goal.

The response: Reps. Tonko and Salinas led a letter, joined by more than 50 of their Congressional colleagues, calling on Kennedy to halt reckless staffing cuts at SAMHSA.

Why it’s important: The loss of institutional knowledge and relationships built with health providers could be catastrophic as the overdose and mental health crises continue.

• Decimating SAMHSA jeopardizes the progress on reducing overdose deaths.
• A disruption in services or guidance for people dealing with mental health or substance use disorder can be deadly.

Source: Deliberate trauma’: SAMHSA employees detail a federal agency in shambles (STAT); Federal Agency Dedicated to Mental Illness and Addiction Faces Huge Cuts (New York Times)