Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

Update Regarding Federal Funding for Student Mental Health

We are reaching out regarding letters forwarded to the California Department of Education (CDE) by California local educational agencies (LEAs), which the LEAs received from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) regarding federal behavioral health grants that support students’ access to mental health support. In these letters, the Trump administration communicates that it will not continue these grants, which were allocated by Congress.

One of those grants includes the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program, totaling roughly $1 billion, which was allocated through Title IV-F of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and originally allocated through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and which won renewed bipartisan support in Congress following the tragic 2022 school shooting in Uvalde. We are aware that additional federal grant programs have been impacted as well.

If your LEA or school community has been impacted by this disruption of funds or federal actions, please reach out to the CDE Government Affairs Division at GAD@cde.ca.gov.

We will continue to keep the field apprised of the CDE responses to federal actions. An ongoing list of 2025 CDE responses to federal actions is maintained on this web page: https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/fa/.

Thank you for your continued hard work on behalf of all students in the State of California. As we at CDE continue to focus on moving the needle for student achievement, we again commend all California school staff who are maintaining a local focus on the all-important task of serving our students.

Sincerely,

Ingrid Roberson
Chief Deputy Superintendent
California Department of Education