Feds axe COVID grants still going to ND
Five years after the pandemic opened up the spigot for trillions in deficit spending, the federal government has had enough. Some $11 billion still in the pipeline for state and local governments has been frozen nationwide. The list of cancellations listed by the North Dakota Monitor includes recipients throughout the state.
The North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services learned last week it lost about $3.2 million in federal funding for substance-use treatment and mental health programs after block grants were rescinded by a federal agency.
In an evening email on March 24, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration told HHS that the COVID-19 pandemic-era grants were taken back in accordance with President Donald Trump’s executive order empowering the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency to cut costs.
“These grants were issued for a limited purpose: To ameliorate the effects of the pandemic,” the email stated. “The end of the pandemic provides cause to terminate COVID-related grants. Now that the pandemic is over, the grants are no longer necessary.”
Despite the extraordinary media attention to DOGE over the first two months of the new administration, the timing of the cost-cutting measures still caught some officials off-guard.
Renae Moch, public health director for Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, said the organization received $115,000 from HHS to develop plans for a 24/7, 365-day facility to focus on crisis response, mental health and addiction services, rather than treating patients in an emergency room.
“How we were notified and how this kind of went down has just been unbelievable,” Moch said.
Many of the grants were reportedly scheduled to expire at the end of September. A partial list of recipients whose funding was revoked indicates much of the pandemic funding was directed to mental health and opioid-related services.
Connect Us Therapy, Williston: $50,000 for crisis response and law enforcement mental health support
Corner Post Counseling, Mandan: $30,000 for crisis response and law enforcement mental health support
Public Health & Tribes, 23 contracts: $200,000 for substance-use prevention
Flint Communications, Fargo: $824,951 for Parents Lead, opioid messaging initiatives and marketing statewide
BeMoreColorful, Fargo: $160,000 for behavioral health workforce tools
Meantime, top state officials plan to keep an eye out for any potential issues resulting from the feds’ pulling the plug on COVID funding years after the pandemic, while noting the obvious.
Gov. Kelly Armstrong said the COVID-19 pandemic has been over for three years, but he has been in contact with HHS to get a handle on the impacts to state health providers.
“I’m glad it happened during the legislative session so we can figure out how we readjust our budget and figure out how to finish off the session,” he said.