Federal officials say they’re reversing mental health funding cuts a day and a half after the cuts were announced.
Manchester School District is a recipient of those federal grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Since Tuesday, multiple messages from SAMHSA have sent aid recipients on an emotional roller coaster.
Hillarie Brown’s son, Eli, has been diagnosed with autism and relies on local mental health services. Brown said she was worried when the federal grant cuts were announced.
“My immediate reaction, as a parent, is fear and concern for my child,” the Keene mother said.
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The National Alliance on Mental Illness-New Hampshire said it got notice of the cuts overnight. Executive director Susan Stearns said the most immediate impact would be on mental health support for first responders.
“It said they didn’t align with the priorities, but I don’t think anyone could find anywhere that could tell us what priorities these programs didn’t align with,” Stearns said.
She said NAMI rushed to develop an approach to the cuts. The same effort was underway at Manchester School District.
“It was the entire day yesterday working on this, calling the state, calling community partners and planning,” said Stacy Champey, director of safe and supportive schools for Manchester School District.
Champey said the cuts would affect the district’s student mental health programs.
Then, Thursday morning, another message came in. The cuts were reversed.
“We’ve learned over the last year to be dynamic in how we’re applying our grants, how we apply federal funding, how we apply our budget funding within the district,” said Manchester School District Superintendent Jennifer Chmiel. “We’ve learned to pivot quickly. We have plans, we have backup plans, and we have backups to our backups at this point.”
Brown said those support services give her son a voice, but she’s not sure if they will last.
“They’re reversed now, but I don’t know that I have the confidence that there’s not going to be this constant whiplash,” she said. “And that’s emotionally and physically exhausting.”
Elected state officials said they sent a letter Wednesday to the Department of Health and Human Services asking for the reversal. They credit the local and national pressure with leading to the change.