Rep. Salinas Demands Answers on Delayed Mental Health and Substance Use Grant Funding

Washington, D.C. -Today, U.S. Congresswoman Andrea Salinas (OR-06) led 29 colleagues in a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher Carroll demanding answers about delays in the release of Fiscal Year 2026 grant funding opportunities for mental health and substance use programs. The lawmakers note that only 17 percent of SAMHSA grant opportunities have been released so far this fiscal year and warn that continued delays are creating uncertainty for providers that rely on federal funding to support mental health treatment, substance use prevention, overdose response, and recovery services in communities across the country.

Click here or see below for the full letter:

Dear Secretary Kennedy and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Carroll,

Nearly nine months into Fiscal Year 2026, the U.S. Department of Health of Human Services (HHS) has delayed taking important steps to fund a wide array of critical federal discretionary programs administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The result is uncertainty and confusion among front-line providers of mental health and substance use services across the United States who cannot apply for Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs).

Currently, there are 17 NOFOs listed as "forecasted" on the SAMHSA Grants Dashboard. Over a quarter of grant opportunities for FY2026 have yet to materialize. Many of these grants are also Programs of Regional and National Significance (PRNS) that are crucial for cities, states, and counties to administer life-saving programming for mental health, substance use prevention, and substance use treatment.

These grants empower our communities by supporting evidence-based programs such as intensive case management for persons with serious mental illnesses, law enforcement crisis de-escalation technique programming, 24/7 residential treatment services for pregnant and postpartum women, and overdose reversal medication administration training.

Timely NOFOs are essential to our local communities because they rely on this funding to pay clinical staff, purchase equipment and necessary supplies, rent space, and support information technology systems. The NOFO delay directly impacts the ability to furnish mental health and substance use services for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Americans which also helps mitigate adverse and expensive outcomes including homelessness, hospital emergency department boarding and incarceration in county jails.

Concern regarding the delay in the NOFO release is well-founded. Many of these same SAMHSA grant programs were the subject of grant termination efforts by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) earlier this year despite being fully funded in the FY 2026 Consolidated Appropriations Act (HR 7148) which was signed into law by President Trump (P.L. 119-75).

Therefore, we seek clarity on this delay to ensure funds are released in a timely fashion and not being subject to unauthorized impoundment or delays of incompetence. Please provide a timeline for the release of these NOFOs by July 1, 2026.