Mapping the costs of mental health- and substance use-related grant cancellations

Since the 2025 Presidential Inauguration, the Administration has terminated billions of dollars in federal funding; however, the impacts of these terminations on the mental health and substance use fields have not yet been examined. We thus aimed to quantify the costs associated with federally funded mental health- and substance use-related grants that have been prematurely terminated during the initial wave of disruptions, before judicial intervention slowed and partially reversed these actions. We used a comprehensive dataset of grants terminated by the NIH, NSF, and SAMHSA compiled from multiple sources. After identifying terminated mental health- and substance use-related grants via a two-step screening process, we quantified their number and associated lost funding for each congressional district, which we visualized using a series of maps to examine trends. We identified 474 mental health- and/or substance use-related grants that were terminated from February 28, 2025, through April 11, 2025, totaling $2,098,731,548 in lost funds. Congressional districts corresponding to urban centers with large academic and research institutions (e.g., Boston) experienced the most pronounced losses from NIH and NSF grants, whereas districts located throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Southeast, and Southwest were the hardest hit by the termination of SAMHSA grants used to pay for community mental health and substance use services. Against a backdrop of ongoing mental health and substance use crises, the Administration has slashed research dollars on these topics, creating a chilling effect on the field. Such cuts are likely to destabilize existing mental health and substance use services and exacerbate inequities between and within U.S. states, intensifying the challenges faced by local communities. • Nearly $2.1 billion in funding for mental health research was terminated in 2025. • Congressional districts in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and South were hardest hit. • Such cuts are likely to destabilize service provision and exacerbate inequities.