SAMHSA, the nation’s primary federal agency for behavioral health, is currently facing significant organizational upheaval. In the past year, the administration has laid off a large portion of SAMHSA’s workforce, proposed steep cuts to SAMHSA’s budget, and announced plans to eliminate several of its programs while consolidating the rest into a new “Administration for a Healthy America.” Most recently, the administration issued immediate termination notices for a broad slate of SAMHSA grants totaling nearly $2 billion in behavioral health funding—though the decision was quickly reversed. 

These destabilizing changes threaten to weaken our nation’s response to the ongoing mental health and substance use disorder crises and risk disrupting critical care for children, adolescents, and families nationwide.

Contact your lawmakers today and urge them to protect SAMHSA by preserving it as a standalone agency, opposing efforts to dismantle its workforce, and supporting robust FY26 funding while ensuring SAMHSA programs continue to serve their Congressionally intended purpose.