Expanding Student Access to Mental Health Services Act
Expanding Student Access to Mental Health Services Act would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to expand and formalize how federal funds used for K-12 programs can support student mental health. The changes authorize broader uses of program funds to improve mental health services—such as promoting best practices for mental health first aid, supporting emergency planning and school-based response teams, coordinating with local health agencies, and expanding telehealth—while also requiring districts to explain in their funding applications how money will be used for mental health activities. The bill also makes it easier to use technology resources to support mental health services by adding specific allowances for mental health-related technology and clarifying exceptions to technology funding limits when the tech is used for mental health purposes. In practical terms, if enacted, the bill would push school systems to (1) invest more directly in mental health strategies and partnerships, (2) incorporate mental health aims into grant applications, and (3) leverage technology and telehealth to reach more students and coordinate care with health providers.
Key Points
- 1Expands allowed uses of funds to improve student mental health, including:
- 2- Identifying and sharing best practices for mental health first aid.
- 3- Assisting in emergency planning and establishing school-based emergency response teams.
- 4- Forming or identifying agreements with local health agencies (public, nonprofit, and private) to better coordinate services.
- 5- Expanding telehealth services for students.
- 6LEA applications (grant applications) must, where applicable, describe how funds will be used for activities related to mental health services, ensuring mental health considerations are built into funding requests.
- 7Technology funding provisions:
- 8- Adds “providing technology to improve mental health services” as an explicit eligible activity under ESEA.
- 9- Allows technology infrastructure used for mental health services to bypass certain general tech funding limits, ensuring that mental health needs can be supported with the necessary tech resources.