Sponsors (4)
The bill expands affordable, targeted scholarships to grow the SUD and behavioral/mental health workforce in high-need areas—improving access and diversity—but ties aid to binding service commitments, potential financial penalties, and funding uncertainty that could limit the program's reach and burden recipients.
People in high-overdose and shortage areas will likely see increased access to substance use disorder and mental health care because scholarships are tied to service in those high-need areas, expanding the pipeline of trained providers.
Students (especially low-income) entering approved programs will face much lower net education costs because scholarships cover tuition, fees, books, and lab expenses and are excluded from taxable income.
Communities may get more stable, locally retained workforces because the program prioritizes applicants likelier to remain serving in shortage areas and those from underrepresented groups, improving workforce diversity and retention.
Program funding is uncertain: although $75M/year is authorized, actual support depends on future appropriations and the Replacement Fund partly relies on collected damages, creating a significant risk the program will be underfunded or short-lived relative to national workforce needs.
Recipients must meet a demanding service obligation (full-time covered employment with limited breaks), which reduces employment flexibility and geographic mobility for students and new providers.
Students who breach service contracts may face financial liability and owe damages to the United States, exposing them to potentially large debts.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a HRSA scholarship program that funds students training for behavioral and substance use disorder jobs in exchange for service in Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas.
Official title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Behavioral and Mental Health Workforce Scholarship Program, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 29, 2025 by Andrea Salinas · Last progress May 29, 2025
Creates a new HRSA scholarship program that pays students training for substance use disorder treatment and behavioral/mental health jobs in exchange for a required period of service in Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas. It sets eligibility, application, and contract requirements and requires clear plain-language disclosures to applicants, but the text provided does not include funding, precise definitions of covered employment, or specific service/repayment terms.