Response Center Updates
Apr. 2, 2025
APA joined with other leading national mental health and substance use organizations to respond to the announcement of drastic staffing cuts at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
HHS’s critical work is vital to increasing access to mental health and substance use disorder care, improving suicide prevention efforts, stemming the opioid epidemic, and reimagining our nation’s mental health crisis response.
Mar. 27, 2025
A recent policy change requiring most federal employees to return to the office, including VA psychologists and other mental health care providers, is significantly impacting the delivery of confidential mental and behavioral health services. APA and APA Services, Inc. express serious concern regarding this and other policies that may affect mental health providers’ provision of services without adequate consideration of confidentiality and privacy.
Updated Mar. 20, 2025
Decades of psychological research demonstrate that diverse teams drive innovation, equitable access to mental health care improves outcomes, and inclusive learning environments enhance academic achievement and well-being. APA and APA Services, Inc. are concerned by recent developments impacting EDI policies, programs, and initiatives, which present challenges to science, psychological well-being, and equitable access to mental health care for all individuals.
Mar. 19, 2025
The APA and its companion organization APA Services Inc. are deeply troubled by reported cuts to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which would severely disrupt the nation’s capacity to deal with the mental health and addiction crises we are experiencing.
Mar. 19, 2025
APA and APA Services, Inc. are concerned over the possible curtailing of access to safe reproductive health care presented by new policies, with specific concern for potential psychological harms and negative societal impacts. These concerns are backed by psychological science, which clearly demonstrates the harmful effects of such policies on reproductive health while also increasing the demand for mental health services, restricting lifesaving research, and presenting new ethical and legal considerations for psychologists.
Mar. 6, 2025
New Policies Affecting Gender-Diverse Populations
APA is concerned by the proposed elimination of the construct of gender identity in recent Executive Orders, memoranda, statements, and policies. These concerns are rooted in established psychological science that demonstrates such actions risk causing significant harm to people whose gender identity differs from their biological sex assigned at birth.
Updated Mar. 5, 2025
Federal funding should be flowing without obstacles according to the January 31 federal court order, but some grantees report they are still facing challenges. NIH has resumed publishing notices of scheduled study section meetings in the Federal Register to review and evaluate grant applications as of at least March 4, following a period when they were unable to review grant proposals due to a pause on posting meeting notifications.
Feb. 12, 2025
New Policies Affecting Immigrant Populations
APA/APASI express concern regarding the Executive Orders and future policies on immigration, emphasizing their potential for significant psychological harm and negative societal impact. These concerns are grounded in APA’s understanding of the unique stressors, vulnerabilities and trauma faced by immigrant populations, and the importance of policies that promote mental health and well-being for all.
Feb. 7, 2025
APA is concerned that recent actions to restrict availability of federal data undermine scientific integrity and weaken the scientific infrastructure that supports the foundation of knowledge and progress in society. Efforts to suppress research findings, question scientific expertise, and dismantle essential scientific agencies, hinder researchers and policy makers in addressing critical challenges and risk diminishing public trust in science.
Rapid Response Protects Vital Medicaid Mental Health Services
Medicaid is America's largest funder of behavioral health services, supporting 37% of children and 11% of people with disabilities. When recent proposed cuts threatened to slash funding for these vulnerable populations and school-based behavioral health programs, APA took immediate action.
We joined forces with the Modern Medicaid Alliance, coordinating a letter signed by 65 national organizations that urged congressional leaders to preserve Medicaid's essential benefits. Our member community also demonstrated powerful grassroots support, with 2,574 members responding to our Action Alert—generating 7,795 messages to Congress that highlighted how these cuts would devastate critical mental health services for those most in need.
Federal Hiring Freeze Exemptions Secured for Mental Health Professionals
When the January 2025 federal hiring freeze threatened to stop psychologist recruitment in key agencies, APA Services took swift action. Working directly with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, APA Services—backed by Division 18 experts—secured crucial exemptions for VA and Bureau of Prisons psychologists.
These exemptions preserve essential mental health care for veterans and incarcerated individuals who face significant health disparities and have high treatment needs. The advocacy also protected the critical APPIC Match program for the VA and BOP, maintaining this vital doctoral and postdoctoral training pathway for future psychologists.
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