Sponsors (4)
The bill strengthens the behavioral health workforce and access in shortage areas by funding scholarships and targeted placements (with diversity and replacement measures), but it increases federal spending, imposes service obligations and potential financial penalties on trainees, and introduces administrative and funding uncertainties.
Patients in shortage areas — especially people with substance use disorders and mental-health needs in rural and high-overdose communities — will likely have better access because the program expands the supply of clinicians trained and placed in shortage-area jobs.
Students in approved behavioral health training programs will receive scholarships covering tuition and reasonable educational expenses, and those awards are excluded from taxable income, increasing net benefit and lowering financial barriers to entering shortage-area practice.
Applicants from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups are prioritized, which should increase workforce diversity and improve culturally competent care for underserved communities.
All taxpayers may ultimately bear program costs and ongoing appropriations estimated up to about $75 million per year, increasing federal spending.
Graduates are required to serve full-time in designated shortage areas, which constrains their choice of jobs and locations and may force relocation or limit career flexibility.
Participants who breach service contracts may face financial liability to the United States, exposing trainees to significant damages if they fail to complete service obligations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a HRSA scholarship program that pays students training for substance use disorder and behavioral/mental health jobs in return for service in mental health professional shortage areas.
Introduced May 29, 2025 by Andrea Salinas · Last progress May 29, 2025
Creates a federal scholarship program, run by HRSA, to pay students in accredited full-time programs who are training for substance use disorder treatment and behavioral/mental health jobs in exchange for a required period of service in designated mental health professional shortage areas. The law requires clear application and contract materials, sets service-obligation rules and remedies for breach, and encourages retention or transitional support for scholars who remain working in shortage areas after their obligated service ends.