A Bipartisan $300 Million Bill Would Put Mental Health Professionals in Every Public School. It Needs to Hear From You.

What the Bill Would Actually Do

The Mental Health Services for Students Act would direct federal grants to school districts specifically for hiring and embedding licensed mental health professionals in school buildings. That means licensed clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, school psychologists, and marriage and family therapists (not just school counselors) co-located in schools to handle the clinical work that cannot and should not fall entirely on counselors already managing caseloads of 300 to 400 students.

The $300 million proposed is significant for a school mental health bill. To put it in context: the Biden administration’s School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program, terminated in 2025, represented nearly $1 billion in federal investment. The Mental Health Services for Students Act is more targeted in scope, and its bipartisan sponsorship gives it a different path in the current legislative environment than a party-line bill would have.

The bill specifically prioritizes under-resourced public schools, rural districts, and communities where community mental health providers are scarce or inaccessible: the populations most affected by the school mental health access gap.

“The Mental Health Services for Students Act would provide $300 million in federal funding for school-based mental health programs, bringing critical on-site mental health services to students in public schools across the country.” Representative Andrea Salinas, 2026

Why Professional Advocacy Matters Right Now

Mental health legislation at the federal level moves slowly and stalls without sustained pressure. Bills with bipartisan support move faster, but they still need constituent engagement. School counselors, clinical counselors, school psychologists, and the associations that represent them are among the most credible voices legislators hear on this issue. A constituent call or letter from a working practitioner carries far more weight than a form-mail campaign.

If you are a member of ASCA, ACA, NASW, or NASP, your association is likely tracking this bill and will send action alerts when contact matters most. Follow those alerts. When they come, act on them. If you are not yet engaged in professional advocacy at the federal or state level, this bill is a concrete entry point: the case is clear, the stakes are real, and the ask is simple.

This field is worth building. The people who will enter it next need the infrastructure to be there when they arrive. The Mental Health Services for Students Act is part of how that infrastructure gets built, but only if the profession shows up for it.

Sources

• Rep. Salinas Reintroduces Bipartisan Legislation to Expand Mental Health Services for Students Nationwide — Representative Andrea Salinas, 2026
• H.R.3534: Mental Health in Schools Excellence Program Act of 2025 — Congress.gov
• Merkley, Mannion Champion Legislation to Make Mental Health Care Accessible for Every Student — U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, May 2026
• Federal Legislation — American School Counselor Association
• State Funding for Student Mental Health — Education Commission of the States