The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration sent out termination letters last month at the direction of Trump officials, cancelling federal grants to mental health and addiction programs across the country.
The funds were reinstated less than a day later, a move that is causing confusion about the administration’s priorities and even some mistrust.
“I don’t think I would ever join a mental health program or anything … because I don’t want to rely on something that I don’t trust,” said Kathleen Kania, a freshman psychology major at DePaul.
She added that the administration’s shifting decisions leave her unsure of their objective.
The American Psychological Association said the funding cuts totaled about $2 billion. SAMHSA, which is part of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, did not respond to a request for comment.
However, the agency’s website says its funds are used to efficiently support all Americans experiencing behavioral health problems and claims those funds will “Make America Healthy Again.”
Still, the future of mental health and addiction care remains uncertain as Medicaid — the largest payer for mental health services and substance abuse services — faces funding cuts under Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law last year.
Kania said she fell into a state of self-isolation and became distant from her family during her freshman and sophomore years of high school.
Kania said she was willing to share her story because she wants mental health programs to have the resources to help people, especially low-income families that need access to mental health services. She said the administration appears unsure how much mental health support it wants to provide.
“I knew that people were there for me, but I feel like no one could really understand what I was thinking,” Kania said. “I could never communicate that.”
Kania, who feels she has helped herself the most along with her mom, said that it would have helped if people outside her family would have reached out.
“I wish that more people realized that I probably wasn’t in the best state of mind,” Kania said.
She added that she would have appreciated “if teachers noticed and just pulled me aside … and just talked to me a little bit.”
Programs that offer services to educate people on mental health struggles are at risk of losing funding.
Vince Walsh-Rock, a clinical faculty member in DePaul’s College of Education, worries that the funding threats have created more uncertainty for people receiving and providing mental health and addiction services.
“We’ll further marginalize people in their lives if they don’t have the support that they need to work through whatever it is they’re working through,” said Walsh-Rock, who has a doctorate in counseling and supervision.
CBS News obtained a termination letter stating that SAMHSA initially decided to terminate funding “to better prioritize agency resources.” This statement comes as the agency continues to describe mental health as a national public health concern. Currently, on its site, SAMHSA describes mental illness and substance abuse as a part of the “chronic disease crisis plaguing our nation.”
Mark Vega, a clinical assistant professor at DePaul and registered nurse, called the initial funding cut decision shortsighted.
Vega also agreed that this funding threat has caused unneeded stress for people receiving mental health care services.
“Anxiety is, like, 90% of mental health,” Vega said. “A lot of studies suggest that stress causes 90% of all physical problems.
“So you’re just adding more stress to a stressful nation.”
Vega also said the administration’s actions towards mental health care discount people receiving mental health support.
“It doesn’t make it feel like they’re a priority,” Vega said, adding that it makes people feel “that at any moment their service can be taken away.”
“As a community, we’re not healthy if our neighbor isn’t healthy,” Vega said. “The community’s health does impact everybody.”
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