This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it was canceling more than $12 billion in federal grants to states earlier this week.

The Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) confirmed to WPR that it was notified this week that a handful of grants were ending right away.

“While we continue to seek more clarification and work through timing issues, at this point we expect to lose more than $39 million in grant funding for our Public Health Division and less than $1 million for our Behavioral Health Division,” WDH spokesperson Kim Deti wrote in an email to WPR.

Deti did not answer specific questions about funding for the state’s 988 crisis lifeline.

The canceled funding includes COVID-19-related grants for immunizations, health disparities, epidemiology and laboratory operations, and substance abuse prevention, among other purposes. Deti added, “It should be noted while this supplemental funding was made available as a result of the pandemic, its purposes went beyond specific pandemic response activities.”

“We have started notifying direct recipients of these grant funds about the situation and we recognize there will be some tough effects,” wrote Deti. “At the same time, it was always known these grants were temporary and we have been planning where possible for funding transitions to ensure many key activities could continue. This week’s notices mean those transition plans will begin a little sooner than expected.”