SAMHSA staff could be cut 50%: 7 things to know 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration could be facing deep cuts as part of a broader effort to scale back the size of the federal government, The New York Times reported March 12. 

Senior officials at the agency and congressional aides told the Times staff at the agency could be cut by 50% as soon as March 14. 

SAMHSA, part of HHS, oversees the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and regulates outpatient opioid use disorder treatment. The agency also monitors substance use and mental health issues nationwide and distributes federal funding for mental health and substance use grants. 

Here are seven things to know: 

1. On March 7, all 80,000 HHS employees received a voluntary buyout offer of $25,000. Employees have a March 15 deadline to respond. 

2. SAMHSA has already lost around 10% of its staff through layoffs of workers in their probationary period, according to the Times. In February, the Trump administration directed nearly all of HHS’ 5,200 probationary employees, workers in their first two years on the job, be terminated. 

3. In a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Reps. Paul Tonko and Andrea Salinas alleged all of SAMHSA’s staff in regions 4 and 5, which oversee parts of the Midwest and South, had already been terminated. SAMHSA’s website no longer lists a regional director for these areas. 

4. In the letter to Mr. Kennedy, Reps. Salinas and Tonko urged the secretary “to reconsider these cuts and stop any further cuts before fully informing Congress of any impacts to overdoses, suicides, and access to mental and behavioral health treatment. An additional 57 members of Congress signed the letter. 

5. SAMHSA represents a small portion of HHS’ overall employee count and budget. The administration has just under 900 employees, according to the Times. 

6. SAMHSA’s staff size nearly doubled during the Biden administration, according to the Times. In 2019, the agency had 490 full-time employees. Increases in funding for the agency had bipartisan support, according to the news outlet, as mental health problems and overdose deaths rose during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
   
7. In a statement to the Times a SAMHSA spokesperson said “regardless of personal changes,” SAMHSA’s staff remains “diligently responsive to partners around the nation.”