A federal grant in McLean County that provides community-based children’s services supporting welfare, mental health and schools has been terminated, effective immediately.
The System of Care grant totaled $501,232.
Marita Landreth of McLean County Behavioral Health Coordination said the county received notice of the termination from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMSHA] Tuesday night.
NPR reports the nationwide cuts include hundreds of letters for supporting health services. Three sources say the cuts could reach roughly $2 billion.
As the grant was just finishing year two of its implementation, having started in September of 2023, Landreth said the county was getting ready to submit its year four budget.
“So, yes there has already been funds spent,” she said. “There have been programs that have gotten stood up and started as a result of this grant, and now our department has the work to do the strategic thinking and the work to figure out how we’re going to keep the wheels on the bus.”
The net loss of funds to the county is still not certain.
In a letter to McLean County, SAMSHA did not provide specific reasons for terminating the grant, Landreth said.
According to a news release, the decision is not related to performance, compliance or any corrective action by McLean County, or its sub-awardee partners that include partnerships with the Center for Human Services and The Baby Fold.
Landreth said the form letter stated the System of Care programs serving children with behavioral health diagnoses "no longer aligns with the agency’s current national funding priorities and that federal resources are being redirected accordingly."
Landreth said the original grant proposal emphasized “the importance of making sure that marginalized families have some access to mental health services."
In a recent update, Landreth said SAMSHA removed the requirement to update a diversity impact statement, and no longer asked for the information. While she remains uncertain, she said the two factors could possibly be related.
The Trump administration has sought to cut programs and funding aimed at promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
The programs funds were dedicated to covering children and their families with mental illness or behavior that showed cause for concern. The funding did not necessarily go to the county, but also to partnered agencies able to provide appropriate care.
“The System of Care had set up a council to kind of help drive what those services go to, and the initial services that this grant has stood up included adding psychiatric services, being able to see a psychiatrist or an advanced practice provider who can provide psychiatric services,” said Landreth.
“We added options for folks ages 5 through 21, I believe, through the Center for Human Services. There is a care coordination program that was set up through the Center for Youth and Family Solutions that helps to do sort of the navigating of that system so they can work with children and their families.”
This year, the council added an intensive behavioral in-home service through The Baby Fold for individuals with added risk.
Now, the county must pivot to ensure continued access to services, but first there must be an assessment of what other organizations and agencies have lost other SAMSHA grants.
Earlier this month, the county already was dealing with other programs from Brightpoint also being cut.
Landreth said there is money budgeted in the fund for emerging opportunities from a sales tax withholding aimed at mental health initiatives.
“The Mental Health and Public Safety Fund is an investment in our community that is meant to be able to be flexible to moments like these, and so we’re gathering all the information that we can, and we hope to be able to utilize this valuable community investment to help us to weather this change as smoothly as possible,” Landreth said.
The council will need to request a budget amendment and seek approval before receiving the funding.
Another source of possible funds comes from the state. However, state funding sources have found themselves strapped for cash as they increasingly try to shoulder the loss of federal funds.
Landreth acknowledged the trouble of the county having many needs, but only so many funding sources.
“One thing that we have been thinking about is that the ways that we want our community to step forward — the things that we have envisioned three years ago, two years ago, we might have to shift that, because the new and exciting things that we are interested in pursuing might have to get balanced with making sure these essential, basic services are covered,” she said.
Community partners and organizations that have been affected by this or other SAMSHA funding changes are encouraged to contact the county by emailing mcbhc@mcleancountyil.gov.
