Bishop Calls on Administration to Restore Funding for Mental Healthcare and Drug Treatment Programs

WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) urged the Trump Administration to reverse course on its recent decision to cancel billions of dollars in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grants. These grants provide resources for overdose prevention, addiction recovery, and mental health services and support local courts, healthcare providers, and community organizations that take on these challenges.

"At a time when the Trump Administration is willing to go to war over drug trafficking, its commitment to the fight seems less than genuine if they are simultaneously retreating from Americans who need our support here on the homefront. These cuts will make our communities more dangerous and cost the lives of those struggling with mental health and drug addiction," said Congressman Bishop. "These cuts are a message to all the local community partners - our courts, our healthcare providers, and thousands of patients throughout Middle and Southwest Georgia that the might and strength of the United States is not focused on helping them."

"Bipartisan investments in these federal programs that I have supported, along with my Democratic and Republican colleagues, over the past few years have been successful and resulted in the number of overdose deaths falling for the past two years. Today's cuts by the Trump Administration jeopardizes the advances we have made," added Congressman Bishop. "The Administration needs to reverse course on this misguided and harmful decision to gut mental health care funding."

The local community was quick to react as well, including the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Columbus, Georgia.

"As a representative of NAMI Columbus on the Accountability Court Board, I am deeply concerned about the loss of approximately $900,000 in SAMHSA funding to the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit's accountability courts. These funds support Veterans Court, Drug Court, and Mental Health Court and provide essential treatment services for justice-involved individuals and vulnerable populations," said Vanessa Dickert, Columbus Programs Manager for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. "Accountability courts are evidence-based and proven to reduce recidivism, and the elimination of this funding threatens public safety, community health, and recovery outcomes."

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