The federal government funds major parts of our mental health services, as well as the mental health services provided by many other Virginia non-profits, state and local government agencies, including Community Services Boards. Every citizen has cause for alarm at the drastic cuts to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which provides this funding, mostly through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Mental Health America is one of 12 leading national mental health and substance use organizations that released a statement in response to drastic staffing cuts. The bottom line is that HHS’s work is vital to increasing access to mental health and substance use care, improving suicide prevention efforts, addressing the opioid epidemic, and responding to people in a mental health crisis.
According to the statement: “HHS’s activities touch the lives of virtually all Americans and play a significant role in helping people impacted by mental health conditions and substance use disorders in local communities across the country.”
The personnel reductions mean the country loses staff with specific expertise and years of experience. We are concerned about what happens next for the programs formerly managed at SAMHSA. This has the potential to undermine decades of progress in addressing mental illness and substance use, including overdose deaths.
We join in the appeal from the national organizations to the Administration to quickly reconsider the changes to HHS. The challenges facing Virginia families need full attention to help us all face mental health, overdose, and suicide crises.
