TOLEDO, Ohio — A Swanton-based consulting firm specializing in public health claimed on Wednesday that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) terminated discretionary funding for mental health and substance abuse across the nation “immediately” and “without warning.”
Epiphany Community Services, which works with communities to provide mental illness and substance abuse support in communities, claimed in a press release that the federal government “provided no transition time and no clear explanation” for cutting these grants. SAMHSA is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. According to its website, SAMHSA’s purposes include preventing substance misuse, abuse and addition, as well as addressing serious mental illness, and more.
In the release, Epiphany said a letter was sent after 10 p.m. on Tuesday to grant recipients, notifying them that their SAMHSA grant was terminated. This letter stated the grants were terminated due to “no longer being aligned with program goals” and SAMHSA’s priorities, Epiphany stated…