Late Wednesday evening, the feds reversed $2 billion in catastrophic grant funding cuts to federal mental health and addiction services programs.
The decision came within 24 hours of the funds being slashed with no warning, sending waves of panic through 2,000 organizations nationwide that rely on the funding to provide essential public health services.
The cuts targeted programs aimed at mitigating the ongoing overdose crisis and rising suicide rates across the nation. Included in the melee was $2.57 million that funds five initiatives at the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health aimed at youth suicide and substance-use prevention, mental health, and medication-assisted treatment. The programs reach thousands of people across Indian Country.
“Yesterday was such a challenging one for our staff and the families we serve who were affected by this news and the Center’s teams who threw themselves into fund-raising and advocacy to address these gaps,” the Center’s director, Allison Barlow, wrote in an email.
It’s unclear how many other Native serving programs were subject to the reversed cuts.
Native people experience deadly health disparities across the board, including in mental health, substance use disorders, and suicide rates. While overdose rates in the general population dropped in 2023, Native communities continued to experience the highest overdose rates of any demographic, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Native people also die by suicide at a rate 91% higher than the general population.
About the Author: “Elyse Wild is Senior Health Editor for Native News Online, where she leads coverage of health equity issues including mental health, environmental health, maternal mortality, and the overdose crisis in Indian Country. Her award-winning journalism has appeared in The Guardian, McClatchy newspapers, and NPR affiliates. In 2024, she received the inaugural Excellence in Recovery Journalism Award for her solutions-focused reporting on addiction and recovery in Native communities. She is currently working on a Pulitzer Center-funded series exploring cultural approaches to addiction treatment.”
Contact: ewild@indiancountrymedia.com
