Melody Schreiber, The Guardian; US health officials reverse course and reinstate $1.9bn to mental health and substance use
"US health officials reversed course and began reinstating nearly $2bn in cuts to mental health and substance use programs on Wednesday night, one day after they unexpectedly announced the immediate shutdown of programs.
The reversal is a blow to the agenda of Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, who has made aggressive and legally contested cuts to health agencies in the first year of the Trump administration and has proposed folding the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (Samhsa) into a new agency he would call the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).
There was immediate outcry about the effects of shutting down vital programs amounting to one-quarter of the budget of Samhsa.
The cuts would have affected overdose prevention and reversal, mental health and substance use support for children, mental health training and support for first responders, support for pregnant and postpartum women, and recovery support programs.
Some programs received reinstatement letters late on Wednesday night, while others are still waiting for official notice that their programs could resume, sources told the Guardian."
