State addiction agency warns federal block grant was terminated early; urges state funding to avoid service cuts

Miss Sarah Goldsby, a representative of the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, told the Senate Finance Committee Health and Human Services Subcommittee on March 27 that federal grant funding the agency used to support county providers was abruptly terminated this week.

Goldsby said the agency learned Monday that “the funds that we had received, these grants had been terminated early and immediately.” She told senators the department had about $600,000 in operating funds tied to the grants and about $4,600,000 obligated to addiction service providers through the fiscal year that now appear unavailable.

The department’s presentation noted that the federal Substance Use Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Services block grant is the foundation of the public addiction system and that congressional appropriations between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2024 added more than $42,000,000 in one-time federal supplements. Goldsby said those one-time federal dollars had been used mainly to supplement existing programs and to raise fee-for-service reimbursement to match HHS Medicaid rates for uninsured and…