It’s been a roller-coaster 24 hours for Emily Stewart.
Stewart had been steeling herself for layoffs as CEO of Casa Esperanza, Inc., a mental health and recovery services provider headquartered in Malden. Casa Esperanza was told that several federal contracts — worth about $2.7 million, with $2 million left in funds, according to the organization — from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration had been terminated.
“It really created a very stressful and anxiety-producing environment for our team,” Stewart said.
Nationally, the cuts to grants totaled around $2 billion and would have an impact on everything from overdose prevention to recovery programs.
But late Wednesday night, the Trump administration abruptly switched gears and reinstated the billions of dollars.
While that offered a momentary sigh of relief for service providers in Massachusetts, it still leaves an uncertain road ahead and adds to a distrust in federal dollars.
Stewart pointed to this incident and other issues, like cuts to Medicaid, that have them concerned.
“We continue to be concerned about the stability of those funds and the accessibility of those funds,” she said. “And so it is something that is very worrying indeed.”
Massachusetts’ Attorney General Andrea Campbell threatened to sue the Trump administration over the cuts before the reversal was announced.
After Health and Humans Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. moved to reinstate the funds, Rep. Rosa DeLauro — a Connecticut congresswoman who is the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee — put out a statement emphasizing that Congress holds the power of the purse.
“These are cuts [Secretary Kennedy] should not have issued in the first place,” DeLauro wrote. “Our policy must be thoughtful – not haphazard and chaotic. This episode has only created uncertainty and confusion for families and healthcare providers.”
Peter Evers is president and CEO of Brockton Area Multi-Services, Inc., or BAMSI. He said they were set to lose about $400,000 in funds from an HIV/AIDS case management grant that help fund their harm reduction services.
He said they were shocked by the cuts, and then very relieved when they were reversed. But he still had a sense of cruelty in the messaging and how it was delivered.
“I have no idea why the rescinded it, I have absolutely no idea,” he said. “I’m happy that they have. But at the same time, we are as in the dark about why it was rescinded as much as we were at three o’clock in the morning when it was sent out.”
Kevin Martone is president and CEO of Bay Cove Human Services, which helps provide help for people in Greater Boston and Southeastern Massachusetts deal with issues like mental illness, homelessness and substance use disorders. While they weren’t directly impacted by the cuts or their reversal, he said that they’re frightening for providers.
“If you’re receiving federal funding from SAMHSA — or frankly any of the federal agencies for housing, or Medicaid and things like that — it makes you question: How do you plan?” Martone said. “The service recipients who rely on these services, what do you tell them? What do you tell your staff? Does your staff start looking for non-federally funded work? Do you intentionally walk away from federal funding due to the uncertainty in the climate? Do you even, thinking forward, do you apply for federal funding in this environment?”
With the money back in place, at least for now, providers are looking to move forward. Stewart said Casa Esperanza will look for other opportunities for funding going forward. And Evers said that their whole system of care would suffer without the funds for HIV/AIDS care they were set to lose.
“We’re glad the money’s back — but it’s just a warning of how volatile the situation is at the moment,” Evers said.
GBH News’ Hannah Reale contributed to this story.
