This week, the Trump administration terminated hundreds of federal grants to support mental health and substance use programs. Thursday morning, they reversed the decision.
The 22nd circuit court in McHenry County had funding cut and then reinstated for their drug court program. It provides mental health services and substance use treatment to people charged with non-violent, drug-related offenses -- instead of incarceration.
Dan Wallis is the trial court administrator. After a chaotic day, he says he’s pleased the administration reversed course.
“I can say unequivocally that our program is successful," he said. "We have had an independent study done on our programs, our drug court, our mental health court, our DUI court, and they do reduce recidivism better than incarceration. Let's face it, we have 200 years of data that shows that you cannot incarcerate your way out of addiction and mental illness.”
The grant is worth a million dollars over the next four years. Wallis says it funded several positions including a case manager and clinical supervisor, as well as additional training and supplies.
The administration also cut and then reinstated funding for the 17th circuit's drug court in Rockford.
“On Monday, we were planning the 30th year anniversary of our drug court program," said court administrator Tom Jakeway, "and on Wednesday we were planning for the ongoing sustainability of that program."
Their federal funding is used for in and out-patient substance use treatment and therapy.
Drug courts are required in Illinois, so if they did lose funding, they couldn’t just shut down. They’d have to find other ways to pay for it.
The city of Mendota also dealt with the whiplash of funding cuts and reversals. They have a $375,000 grant to develop community-based substance misuse prevention and mental health promotion services.
According to reporting from NPR, political backlash from both Democrats and Republicans led the Department of Health and Human Services to backtrack on the cuts.
