Several agencies in Will and Kendall counties weren’t expecting any impact from the proposed cuts to mental health grants that may have already been reversed.

Earlier this week, the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education were notified of the funding cuts by the Trump administration, according to a news release from the Illinois Department of Human Services.

These cuts would have affected “five critical behavioral health and suicide prevention programs, totaling over $5.94 million and affecting hundreds of people and providers,” according to the release.

By Thursday morning, major news outlets were reporting that the funding cuts were reversed.

According to IDHS, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) had announced the federal grants to be affected and the Illinois agencies that distribute them:

• Strategic Prevention Framework – Partnerships for Success for States (SPF-PFSS) and the Illinois Prevent Prescription Drug/Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths (IPDO) grants, which are distributed by IDHS

• Garret Lee Smith Youth Suicide Prevention and Intervention grant, distributed by IDPH, and Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resilience in Education) grant and REACH Out grant distributed by ISBE

Cuts to all five grants were to be in effect on Jan. 13.

Kevin Juday, communications program manager for the Will County Health Department, said, “None of the Will County Health Department programs will be affected by any of the grant cuts referenced in the IDHS press release from Jan. 14.”

RaeAnn VanGundy, executive director and public health administrator for the Kendall County Health Department, said her agency “would not have been affected directly by these cuts.”

“But any cuts to any services, especially mental health, will always affect our community, which in turn affects us and our service capacity,” VanGundy added.

Bonnie Hassan, director of behavioral health services at the New Lenox-based Trinity Services, said the potential cuts did not affect any of Trinity’s behavioral health programs, including The Living Room.

The Living Room is an Illinois Department of Human Services program that gives adults 24-hour, 365-day access to free emergency mental health care.

In 2021, Trinity opened a Living Room in Orland Park. The Joliet Living Room opened in 2024 to offer 24/7 emergency mental health services.

The proposed cuts also wouldn’t have impacted the Will-Grundy chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), according to Michelle L. Pruim, executive director of NAMI Will-Grundy.

“NAMI Will-Grundy does not receive any federal funds,” Pruim said, “and so we will not be directly affected by potential cuts.”