Trump administration ends national database for ‘evidence-based’ mental health programmes

The National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices designed to provide information about effective therapies

Donald Trump's days finish around 6pm, according to his private schedule (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty)

Donald Trump’s administration has suspended a programme that helps people find intervention methods for preventing and treating mental illness and substance use disorder.

The National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices has existed since 1997 and was designed to provide information about evidence-based mental health.

It is a database of hundreds of programmes that have been assessed by an independent contractor and deemed to be scientifically accurate.

Mental health and addiction specialists said they used the database as a source for finding effective therapies, the Washington Post reported.

Officials have not yet provided a reason for why the registry has been suspended but did say a new entity will take its place.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, who ran the database, said it was still “very focused on the development and implementation of evidence-based programs in communities across the nation”.

Exact details for the new entity have not yet been provided but an agency spokesperson said they would “institute an even more scientifically rigorous approach to better inform the identification and implementation of evidence-based programs and practices.”