The federal government might have abruptly ended funding for Louisiana mental health and substance abuse services that was expected to last through the end of 2025, state health officials said Tuesday.
Karen Stubbs Church, assistant secretary over Louisiana’s Office of Behavioral Health, told a Louisiana Senate budget committee the state received notice Monday night that as many as six of the state’s federal health grants had been canceled.
Church was not specific about what programs the threatened grants support, only to say the money is used for “crisis services.”
The message from the federal government was “difficult to interpret,” she said. For example, two of the six grants the federal government appeared to be seeking to end might have already expired.
“There is still a lot of confusion,” Church told legislators. “We’re still working out the impact.”
Speaking at the same hearing, Deputy Health Secretary Pete Croughan said Louisiana could have lost as much as $10 million from the grants, though the funding was always temporary. It was already expected to end later this year.
The money originally flowed to Louisiana through the American Rescue Plan, a massive congressional bill originally passed to help deal with fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Donald Trump’s administration has made drastic cuts to several types of federal grant programs and attempted to lay off thousands of government employees since he took office in January.
Among Trump’s targets for large cuts is the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The agency oversees suicide hotlines, programs for opioid addicts and funding for drug courts around the country. It was expected to lose as much as 50% of its staff, according to The New York Times.
The agency is part of the larger U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run earlier this year.