Earlier this week, President Trump released his Health and Human Services (HHS) “Making America Healthy Again” budget for fiscal year 2026 (October 2025 – September 2026). He, HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy and other staff members will now work with U.S. Representatives and Senators who will pass the finalized budget into law.
The budget introduction explains that several agencies within HHS have been consolidated into the newly created Administration for A Healthy America (AAHA) with the goal of maximizing efficiency and reducing service replication across agencies. One of the overarching aims of AHAA is to fight chronic disease by ensuring access to primary care, supporting behavioral health services, and reducing exposure to environmental toxins.
We did not have time to do a deep dive into the budget before sharing this information with you, but please note that mental health budget information begins on page 33. Pages 35 and 36 list programs related to mental health and substance use treatment that the budget would eliminate. Pages 36 – 39 describe the President’s funding priorities. The federal government will allocate a significant portion of this money directly to states so that states (likely through the relevant state agencies working with state policymakers) can decide the best ways to use funds in their states. This sort of funding typically uses block grants.
We encourage all of you to look at this budget information and thoughtfully consider these questions:
- What types of mental health support and substance use treatment services are most important to you and your family?
- How comfortable do you feel sharing what’s important to you and your family with those who make budget decisions? How can we support each other with this?
- How do we work together to ensure that people receiving services and their families are at every decision-making table, including deciding how to use funds?
- How can we maximize the Behavioral Health Planning and Advisory Council and other groups already mandated to advise on block grant funds to ensure that everyone who cares about behavioral health care has a chance to share their ideas?
Some of you have asked us how federal budget changes affect Families as Allies. The truth is we don’t know yet. We will share our budget situation with you when we have a better idea. Here’s what we can tell you now. Families as Allies’ annual budget is usually around $500,000, most from state, federal and foundation grants (your donations help us tremendously and are always welcome). Typically, 40-60% of our annual funding is from federal grants.
Some of our federal funding is confirmed, and some federal applications are pending. One program for which we have a pending application, the Statewide Family Network grant, was cut in this budget, so we know it won’t likely be funded. We will keep you posted as we learn more.
We want Families as Allies to stay viable and funded through these changes. We hope you want that, too. But even more, we hope that all of us can work together through any twists and turns to ensure that families are partners in their children’s care and that all children have the chance to reach their potential and succeed.
There’s nothing we cannot do standing together as families. We know our children better than anyone. We (and they) are our children’s strongest best advocates. Many of you know we end all our meetings at Families as Allies with “Go forth and conquer” because we know we can figure anything out if we’re standing together. So let’s go forth and conquer together—even when we’re unsure where the journey might take us.
