Bill > HR6131

This bill aims to increase the number of school-based mental health services providers in low-income local educational agencies by establishing two key programs. First, the bill creates a competitive grant program that will provide funding to partnerships between eligible graduate institutions and low-income school districts to develop pipeline programs for training, placing, and retaining mental health professionals in schools. These grants can be used for activities like paying administrative costs for student placements, subsidizing salaries for new graduates, recruiting diverse students into mental health fields, developing specialized coursework, and providing tuition credits. Second, the bill establishes a student loan repayment program for mental health professionals who commit to working in low-income school districts for five consecutive years, offering up to $200,000 in loan forgiveness. Additionally, the bill requires the Secretary of Education to conduct a study to develop a formula for identifying regions with shortages of school-based mental health providers, using factors like local poverty rates, educational attainment, special education needs, and youth crime rates. The overall goal is to address the critical shortage of mental health support in schools serving low-income communities by creating financial incentives and structural support for training and retaining qualified professionals.

Education

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6131/all-info