On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law a two-part legislative package that included more than $1.4 trillion for fiscal year 2021 (FY21) appropriations and $900 billion for pandemic relief.  

Following several months of targeted and carefully designed advocacy, including grassroots efforts, constituent engagement, and APA meetings with Capitol Hill staff, the FY21 omnibus portion of the spending agreement included several hard-fought wins and increases in federal funding for psychology:  

Psychology workforce development

  • A $2 million increase for the SAMHSA’s Minority Fellowship Program and $1 million increase for HRSA’s Graduate Psychology Education Program, which both support the training of health service psychologists to provide culturally competent, integrated mental and behavioral health services.
  • Within the Department of Defense, a $4.5 million increase for the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, which supports the Center for Deployment Psychology. 

Funding for basic and applied psychological research

  • Increases of $1.25 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), $208 million for the National Science Foundation, and $2.4 million for the Department of Defense’s Minerva Initiative. 

Access to mental and behavioral health services

  • $35 million in new funding to support evidence-based crisis systems through SAMHSA’s Community Mental Health Services Block Grant, which will help states enhance community-based crisis care for individuals with serious mental illness, including children with severe mental and emotional disorders.  

Violence prevention

  • A $2 million increase for the CDC Injury Center to support data and evaluations to inform ongoing programmatic efforts, specifically in vulnerable populations and subgroups among which suicides are increasing.  

Application of psychological science to Pre-K, K-12, and higher education

  • A $10 million increase for Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV-A), which support overall academic achievement by providing students with a well-rounded education and increasing school-based mental health services.  


Please visit the Key Appropriations Wins (PDF, 74KB) webpage for additional appropriations priorities APA successfully advocated for in FY21.  

For additional information, please contact Alix Ginsberg, MPH.