Additional Federal Funding to Support Mental Health and Student Wellness

On February 16, the Department of Education announced $188 million in awards to increase access to school-based mental health services and to strengthen the pipeline of mental health professionals in high-need school districts. The funding will enable communities to hire school-based mental health professionals and train more to build a diverse pipeline of mental health providers in schools. Awards are split between the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant (SBMH) program and the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant (MHSP) program.

Through SBMH, the Department awarded $131.8 million to states and school districts to increase the number of qualified mental health services providers delivering school-based mental health services to students. Through MHSP, the Department awarded $46.7 million to states, school districts, and institutions of higher education to train school-based mental health services providers for employment in schools and local educational agencies (LEAs). Many awardees of the MHSP program are CGS members.