Many METARs are old enough to remember when many mental institutions were shut down in the 1960s and 1970s in a devil’s bargain between Democrats (who wanted to increase individual liberty) and Republicans (who wanted to save money). Supposedly the new psychiatric drugs and community based care would take care of the mentally ill.
We all know how that turned out – the drugs didn’t work because many patients stopped taking them and the community support never materialized. We all saw an epidemic of homelessness and drug addiction. Prisons are currently the largest warehouses of the mentally ill.
More recently, mental health care (including addiction services) have been re-classified as medical care. Money was allocated to take care of this. But not so fast! The administration cut but is waffling.
Trump administration reverses course on $1.9 billion in cuts to addiction and mental health grants
Reversal came after opposition from lawmakers, mental health groups
By Lev Facher, Stat10,
Jan. 14, 2026
The Trump administration on Wednesday reversed course on major funding cuts to addiction and mental health programs it had issued the day before, according to four sources familiar with the decision.
The about-face would spare, at least temporarily, thousands of organizations that receive funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
While the exact funding cuts enacted on Tuesday remained unclear, the scope was vast. Multiple sources told STAT that the number of overall grants originally canceled could number as high as 2,800, with the total dollars affected as high as $1.9 billion — over one-quarter of the agency’s overall budget…
The cuts did appear to spare certain programs, however, like Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, specialized facilities that offer 24/7 mental health and addiction care. … [end quote]
Cuts to programs approved by Congress are illegal but that hasn’t stopped the administration.
But the outcry over the mental/ addiction health care cuts may cause the money flow to be reinstated. Of course, it’s impossible to say because the administration is so unpredictable.
Wendy