\n<\/p>\n
NEW YORK — <\/span>Elizabeth Woike was cautiously optimistic when she saw news reports that the nearly $2 billion in grants<\/a> that the Trump administration<\/a> pulled from substance abuse and mental health programs around the country the previous day might be getting reinstated. <\/p>\n Then she got a 2 a.m. email Thursday from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reiterating the cuts \u2014 and didn’t know what to think anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cI just shook my head. It’s mass chaos,\u201d said Woike, the CEO of BestSelf Behavioral Health, a mental health and substance use disorder treatment provider in Buffalo, New York. As it turned out, the second termination letter was sent in error. She and roughly 2,000 other grant recipients nationwide were notified later Thursday morning that their federal funding had indeed been restored. <\/p>\n Woike’s feeling of whiplash over the past two days has been a common experience for providers, state health agencies and Americans who receive services amid the Trump administration eliminating, then abruptly reinstating, grants that support some of the nation’s most vulnerable people<\/a>.<\/p>\n It builds on what program directors say has become a pattern of uncertainty<\/a> from this administration, which has repeatedly canceled millions of dollars in federal funding<\/a> without notice and at times reversed course<\/a> in decisions about what will and won’t be covered. Woike said the unsteadiness makes it impossible for organizations like hers to make long-term plans.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one\u2019s looking at expansion or really trying to ramp up services to meet the need in the community,\u201d she said. \u201cEveryone is just retrenching, looking at putting aside every penny and every resource.\u201d<\/p>\n The administration first notified grant recipients that their funding was being pulled in emailed letters Tuesday evening, according to copies received by organizations and reviewed by The Associated Press.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, several organizations told the AP they were already making difficult decisions in response to the cuts, including laying off employees and canceling scheduled trainings. <\/p>\n By Wednesday evening, news reports were suggesting the cuts might be reversed \u2014 but grant recipients hadn’t yet been notified of the change. Some of them said they instead received confusing emails overnight that duplicated their termination notices or instructed them on how to to close down their grants within 30 days.<\/p>\n It wasn’t until Thursday morning that grant recipients started getting form emails saying the grant terminations were \u201chereby rescinded.\u201d<\/p>\n Even then, not everyone could rest easy. Sara Howe, CEO of the Addiction Professionals of North Carolina, said members of her professional association are still nervous about whether their funding is guaranteed.<\/p>\n \u201cAny time this happens, you wind up in a position where you\u2019re like, is it OK to breathe?\u201d Howe said. \u201cIt puts everybody on really unsteady, shaky ground.\u201d<\/p>\n An administration official with knowledge of the decision who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter confirmed the grants were restored, but didn’t say why. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services didn\u2019t answer a question about the administration’s reasoning and declined to comment on the confusion that resulted from the situation. <\/p>\n Democratic lawmakers erupted at the Trump administration for the uncertainty and stress they caused in cutting grants and then abruptly reversing course.<\/p>\n House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rep. Rosa DeLauro described Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s decision-making as dangerous and haphazard after grant recipients began laying off employees based on the original plans.<\/p>\n \u201cHe must be cautious when making decisions that will impact Americans\u2019 health,\u201d DeLauro, D-Conn., said in a statement. \u201cI hope this reversal serves as a lesson learned.\u201d<\/p>\n Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin told the AP in a statement that the episode \u201ccaused chaos and real harm to Americans \u2014 and now, they need to come clean and give families some answers why they caused this mess.\u201d<\/p>\n Providers said they were hustling to undo changes they’d already made in response to the cuts. Honesty Liller, CEO of the peer support organization the McShin Foundation in Richmond, Virginia, said she was working on the logistics of getting five laid-off employees their jobs back.<\/p>\n Ryan Hampton, founder of the nonprofit advocacy organization Mobilize Recovery, said he was relieved the funding was restored to his and other organizations, but criticized the administration for endangering lifesaving services in the first place.<\/p>\n \u201cRestoring these grants was the only acceptable outcome, yet the chaos inflicted on frontline providers and families these past 24 hours is unforgivable,” he said. \u201cWe cannot normalize a political environment where overdose prevention and recovery are treated as leverage.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n