Sponsors (66)
Introduced September 23, 2025 by Andrea Salinas · Last progress September 23, 2025
The bill expands and sustains school‑based mental health supports through federal grants and local partnerships—improving services and accountability for students and families—while increasing federal spending and administrative/eligibility burdens that may disadvantage smaller districts and require additional local resources.
Students and children nationwide gain expanded, developmentally and culturally appropriate school-based mental health services addressing trauma, grief, suicide risk, and violence.
Parents, families and schools gain coordinated community partnerships (health providers, child welfare, law enforcement, and education agencies) to provide local, multi‑sector supports for child mental health and safety.
Grantees receive multi‑year (5‑year) renewable grants combined with required program evaluation and annual reporting to Congress, which supports sustained implementation, accountability, and spread of best practices.
Taxpayers face increased federal spending—$300 million authorized per year for FY2027–FY2028—adding to federal outlays and potentially requiring offsets or reprioritization of funds.
Smaller school districts and community providers may struggle to meet partnership eligibility requirements (must include SEA and local agencies), limiting access to grant funds for grassroots organizations and underserved areas.
Recipients must comply with HIPAA and FERPA and submit annual outcome data, increasing administrative and recordkeeping burdens and creating privacy and information‑sharing challenges.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Establishes an HHS-funded school-based mental health grant program to provide trauma-informed screening, treatment, training, and community partnerships for children and adolescents.
Creates a federally supported school-based mental health program by amending existing public health law: the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, consulting with the Education Secretary, would award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible entities (including Bureau of Indian Education schools) to provide comprehensive, trauma-informed mental health services for children and adolescents. Services must be developmentally, linguistically, and culturally appropriate and may include screening, treatment, staff training, family engagement, positive behavioral supports, and community partnerships. Also revises and expands permissible uses under the existing Children and Violence program to explicitly allow implementation of school- and community-based trauma programs, technical assistance, broad multi-stakeholder partnerships, and other mechanisms to address child and adolescent trauma, mental health, and violence; the provided text of one item appears truncated and may contain additional specifics.