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Nonprofits that address housing, addiction, mental health and other human service needs were notified this week that they will lose up to $2 billion in federal grant money, in a wave of termination letters issued to programs across the country. 

The cuts will make it more difficult for frontline groups to provide treatment and harm reduction care that has been crucial to combating overdose deaths, and breaking the cycles of addiction and housing insecurity. Resources like Narcan medication used to save lives by reversing overdoses, peer support, and treatment access could dry up, just as communities nationwide began to see reductions in overdose deaths.

The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which issued the letters, hasn’t yet commented on the cuts. There are 30 SAMHSA-funded opioid treatment programs scattered across Wisconsin including in Appleton; Beloit, Eau Claire, Fond Du Lac, Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Kenosha, and others, according to the agency’s website. One of those programs, Vin Baker Recovery, is named after a Milwaukee Bucks basketball team player and assistant coach.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley condemned the sudden funding cuts. “The Trump administration’s cuts are not just numbers on a budget sheet; they are threats to the wellbeing of real people — our neighbors, our families, and our loved ones,” Crowley said in a statement. “While I will continue fighting for funding and resources to deliver results for our most vulnerable communities, the federal government must recognize the urgent need to preserve these vital services. These cuts cannot stand, because the lives of Wisconsinites depend on it.” 

A Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) spokesperson said that so far, no termination letters have been sent to the county. DHHS received $13.9 million in direct SAMHSA funds, with $6.2 million remaining as of December. The county also receives another $15.3 million in state mental health and substance use disorder grants which  partially consist of federal funding through SAMHSA.

In an emailed statement the spokesperson said that “any termination of SAMHSA funding would result in immediate termination of mental health and substance use services in Milwaukee County.” Wisconsin’s most populous county has no other funding alternatives, and the loss of federal grant money would lead to more hospitalizations and higher incarceration rates, the spokesperson warned.

Elizabeth Goodsitt, a spokesperson for Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services (DHS) wrote in an email statement Wednesday that the department was “notified late yesterday that effective January 13, the Tribes of Wisconsin Prescription Drugs/Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths Prevention Program (PDO) grant has been terminated by the federal government.” Goodsitt described this as “part of a much larger set of cancellations across the country for federally funded projects that provided life-saving mental health and substance use disorder services.” 

Wisconsin had received nearly $1 million to operate the PDO until August 2026. The program was in the third year of a five-year grant. “The goal of the PDO is to save lives,” said Goodsitt. “The funding supports training first responders and other key community sectors on overdose prevention strategies, and it supports the purchase and distribution of naloxone, the overdose reversal medication for opioids.” 

For now the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents have not received termination letters regarding SAMHSA funding. Native American communities are disproportionately affected by overdose deaths in Wisconsin at a rate of 75.4 people per 100,000 in 2023, as compared to a rate of 20 people per 100,000 for white Wisconsin residents. 

“We are assessing all avenues possible to ensure the federal government is following all requirements in these existing funding agreements,” said Goodsitt. “While there continues to be much uncertainty about this evolving situation, we will keep working to serve Wisconsinites and support their behavioral health needs. We will continue to closely monitor this situation and will share more information as it becomes available.”