California secured a courtroom order briefly blocking the Trump administration from discontinuing roughly $200 million at school psychological well being grant funding awarded to dozens of faculties and universities in California, together with the Santa Clara County Workplace of Schooling and California State College East Bay.
Congress created the Psychological Well being Skilled Demonstration Grant Program in 2018 following the varsity capturing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty in Parkland, Florida, that killed 14 college students and three workers members, and the Faculty-Primarily based Psychological Well being Companies Grant Program in 2020. The $1 billion in funding helps colleges in offering psychological well being providers for elementary and secondary colleges all through the nation — together with many in low-income and rural communities — with the aim of completely bringing 14,000 extra psychological well being professionals into the nation’s colleges.
In April, the U.S. Division of Schooling alerted California and 15 different states that this system grant funding can be discontinued on the finish of the 12 months as a result of the division decided that the applications have been “not in the best interest of the federal government” and battle with the Trump administration’s priorities — alleging that they violate civil rights regulation, don’t prioritize “merit, fairness and excellence in education,” undermine the well-being of scholars or represent an inappropriate use of federal funds.
In June, the impacted states shaped a multistate coalition and filed a lawsuit towards the Division of Schooling in a multi-state coalition. The states’ lawsuit warned that discontinuing the grant funding would irreparably hurt college students, leaving many rural and low-income colleges with out psychological well being suppliers or providers essential to college students’ security and well-being.
The October courtroom order rejects the Division of Schooling’s movement to dismiss the case and blocks the administration from implementing the discontinuation towards practically 50 grantees throughout the nation whereas the lawsuit continues.
“The court’s decision requires the Trump Administration’s Department of Education to provide thousands of students in our state a fair shot at accessing crucial mental health services that support their success and wellbeing, while our litigation continues,” mentioned Legal professional Basic Rob Bonta in a press release Tuesday. “Instead of fulfilling its mission of promoting educational excellence and equity for all students, the Department of Education is using baseless and unlawful excuses to rip funding from projects that provide necessary mental health services — especially in our low-income and rural communities. The court’s ruling brings us one step closer to ensuring the Department of Education follows the law when it makes mental health grant award decisions in the future.”
