The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration laid off more than 100 employees Oct. 10 amid a governmentwide reduction in force, according to an Oct. 11 report from NPR.
Two former employees estimated that about 125 staff members lost their jobs in the latest round of cuts. SAMHSA employed around 900 people at the start of the current administration but lost one-third of that workforce in the spring. With the latest round of layoffs, staffing has fallen to nearly half.
HHS, which houses SAMHSA, said the cuts were “a direct consequence of the Democrat-led government shutdown,” according to Andrew Nixon, HHS’ director of communications.
SAMHSA oversees the national 988 suicide prevention hotline and awards billions in grants to states for mental health and substance use disorder services. In 2024, its budget was about $7.5 billion, according to the report. The CDC also faced staffing cuts, though some of those layoffs were later reversed. HHS officials attributed the reversals to incorrect notifications issued during the first wave of reductions in force. The agency’s outbreak response and public health teams were among those affected.
