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Alliance Alert: This Monday, 16 states—including ����������—filed a federal lawsuit to stop the Trump administration’s devastating $1 billion cut to school-based mental health programs. These cuts target essential federal grants that help fund counselors and mental health professionals in schools serving rural and low-income students—the very communities most in need.

The lawsuit, led by ���������� Attorney General Letitia James, argues that the U.S. Department of Education illegally terminated grant programs that Congress had created and funded in direct response to school shootings and the youth mental health crisis. The Education Department claims the funding conflicted with the administration’s priorities and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) concerns—despite no evidence of mismanagement or misuse.

What’s at stake in ����������:

• Over $7.6 million in approved funding is on the chopping block.
• Programs like those at SUNY Binghamton serving 9,000+ students in rural schools would be forced to lay off staff and eliminate services.
• Nationwide, more than 775,000 students accessed mental or behavioral health support through these grants in the first year alone.

This is not just about budgets—it’s about lives. Schools are still reeling from trauma, anxiety, and rising youth suicide rates. Removing these resources now is reckless and harmful. As AG James put it, “To eliminate these grants now would be a grave disservice to children and families.”

We strongly support this legal challenge and will continue to advocate for the services needed by students and families to support recovery and thriving lives. We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.

Democratic States Sue Trump Administration Over School Mental Health Funding Cuts
By Lexi Lonas Cochran | The Hill | July 1, 2025

Sixteen Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Monday challenging the Department of Education’s cuts to mental health funding for schools.

In April, the Education Department  to mental health funding, citing concerns with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives embedded in the contracts. 

The states allege the contracts were unlawfully terminated under the Administrative Procedure Act and that the cancellation goes against congressional mandates. The lawsuit says the cuts would cause “immediate and devastating harm” to schools. 

“By cutting funding for these lifesaving youth mental health programs, the Department of Education is abandoning our children when they need us most,” ���������� Attorney General said. “These grants have helped thousands of students access critical mental health services at a time when young people are facing record levels of depression, trauma, and anxiety.” 

“To eliminate these grants now would be a grave disservice to children and families in ���������� and nationwide, and my office is fighting back to preserve these much-needed programs,” James added. 

The lawsuit was filed by ����������, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin. 

The Hill has reached out to the Department of Education for comment.  

In its initial announcement of the cut, the department argued the grants designed to help children were making the situation the worse.  

“These grants are intended to improve American students’ mental health by funding additional mental health professionals in schools and on campuses. Instead, under the deeply flawed priorities of the Biden Administration, grant recipients used the funding to implement race-based actions like recruiting quotas in ways that have nothing to do with mental health and could hurt the very students the grants are supposed to help,” said Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications at the Education Department.   

“We owe it to American families to ensure that tax-payer dollars are supporting evidence-based practices that are truly focused on improving students’ mental health,” she added.  

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States Sue Trump Administration for Slashing $1B in School Mental Health Funding
By Madina Toure | Politico | July 1, 2025

NEW YORK — ���������� Democratic Attorney General Letitia James and the top prosecutors of 15 other states are suing the Trump administration for canceling over $1 billion in federal mental health grants in rural and low-income communities.

, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, challenged the Education Department’s decision to cut funding for two mental health grant programs that Congress established and increased funding for in response to a series of school shootings, including a 2022 elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The lawsuit names the Education Department and Secretary Linda McMahon as defendants.

The two programs have won bipartisan support.

“These grants have helped thousands of students access critical mental health services at a time when young people are facing record levels of depression, trauma, and anxiety,” James said in a statement. “To eliminate these grants now would be a grave disservice to children and families in ���������� and nationwide.”

The Education Department, which announced the grant terminations at the end of April, said the funding conflicts with the administration’s priorities.

The attorneys general have argued that if the funding cuts proceed, it will lead to layoffs of hundreds of school-based mental health professionals and end services for thousands of vulnerable students.

In the first year alone, nearly 775,000 students received mental or behavioral health services, the prosecutors said. Over 1,200 school-based mental health professionals were hired and 95 percent were retained.

The coalition of attorneys general also represent Washington, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Rhode Island, Oregon, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Nevada, Connecticut and California.

A spokesperson for the Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The prosecutors are asking the court to deem the grant terminations unlawful, reinstate the funding and stop the agency from undertaking what they deemed ideological moves.

A department official previously said that mental health grantees were violating the letter or purpose of federal civil rights law, including a policy of “prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education.”

How we got here: Congress established the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program in 2018 following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Two years later, Congress built upon that work with the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program to help schools hire and retain school-based mental health staff.

In the wake of the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Congress boosted funding for both programs, appropriating over $100 million annually to each through 2026.

The prosecutors contended that the cancellation of the funding undermines Congress’ authority and equity directive, according to the lawsuit. They also charged that it flouts the Administrative Procedure Act because of the lack of notice.

Additionally, they accused the Trump administration of violating federal rules that dictate the continuation of grant awards.

“Defendants concluded that, due to the alleged conflict with the current Administration’s priorities, Plaintiffs’ grants were not in the federal government’s best interest,” the lawsuit states. “However, defendants have never alleged, much less demonstrated, any performance issue which could serve as the basis for Plaintiffs’ discontinuances.”

Why this matters: ���������� stands to lose at least $19 billion in previously approved funding if the cuts go through, including over $7.6 million for the State University of ����������.

SUNY Binghamton, for example, would be forced to pull mental health professionals from schools serving over 9,000 rural students — and lay off 10 full-time staff and several part-time employees and graduate assistants.

“At a time when school-based mental health services are more important than ever, SUNY is proud that our campuses play a vital role in training mental health providers and we will vigorously defend this important work,” SUNY Chancellor John King said in a statement.