Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) is alarmed by today’s announced termination of critical federal grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). These abrupt cuts — which reports indicate total nearly $2 billion in addiction, mental health, and community-based service grants eliminated virtually overnight — will have profound consequences for organizations serving people living with and impacted by HIV, particularly communities already facing deep structural inequities.
SAMHSA has long been a cornerstone of behavioral health and substance-use services in the United States. Its grants support prevention, treatment, recovery, crisis services, and outreach that are deeply intertwined with HIV prevention and care. The sudden withdrawal of this scale of federal funding will destabilize service networks nationwide and undermine the integrated systems of care that many AIDS service organizations (ASOs) and community-based providers rely on to meet the needs of their communities.
“Behavioral health, harm reduction, and social support are not ancillary to the HIV response — they are essential. When these services disappear, people living with HIV face greater barriers to staying engaged in care, managing co-occurring mental health and substance-use conditions, and maintaining stability in the face of already fragile safety nets.”— Masen Davis, Executive Director, Funders Concerned About AIDS
FCAA’s forthcoming resource tracking report shows that, even prior to today’s announcement, total U.S. HIV-related philanthropy in 2024 was approximately $316 million. While this level of philanthropic investment reflects deep commitment, it pales in comparison to the scale of public funding now being withdrawn. Philanthropy alone cannot absorb or replace the sudden loss of billions in federal support. Without intervention, closures and severe capacity reductions among key organizations serving impacted populations are inevitable.
“Terminating SAMHSA grants overnight is a direct hit to the services that keep people alive and connected to care. Programs like harm reduction, crisis response, treatment, and mental health support will take the direct hit. When those supports disappear, HIV outcomes worsen. People fall out of care, risk rises, and preventable deaths follow. This is an urgent public health emergency, and these grants must be restored.”— Carl Baloney Jr., President and CEO, AIDS United and Board Member, Funders Concerned About AIDS
The scale and speed of today’s SAMHSA grant terminations make one reality clear: the HIV response cannot succeed without sustained public investment, and philanthropy cannot be expected to shoulder this burden alone.
FCAA stands ready to support funders, service providers, and advocates in responding to this crisis. We urge philanthropic partners to prioritize flexible, general operating support; coordinate rapidly with peers to address acute gaps; strengthen advocacy to protect and restore public funding; and engage FCAA as a resource for timely data, donor coordination, and shared strategy.