White House Announces New Mental Health Funding for Children
The White House today announced it is investing more than $300 million in mental health funding for children, ABC News reported.
Much of the money is coming from the bipartisan anti-gun violence law passed this June by Congress and will go toward grants, programs, and resources to create safer learning environments for children in schools.
The Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are using the funds to employ health professionals in schools, with the DOE granting $144 million a year for five years for mental health staffing in schools and $143 million a year for five years for "boosting the mental health profession pipeline" in schools that are most in need.
The HHS is also investing nearly $27 million in a mental health access program for pediatric primary health care providers in emergency departments to detect and treat mental health conditions, per ABC.
The news comes after President Joe Biden passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) this summer following a string of mass shootings. Today also marks National Child Health Day (the first Monday in October) and the start of National Depression and Mental Health Screening Month (October).
Per ABC, the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, Domestic Policy Council, and the Department of Health and Human Services held a meeting with state leaders to address the mental health crisis in the country and come up with strategies to improve access and care.
"We've never seen an effort of this magnitude in relation to the challenge that we have around mental health," Roberto Rodríguez, the education department assistant secretary for planning, told the news outlet. "We also have never seen this level of investment from the federal level, more specifically in mental health professionals, so we are making a big bet on supporting, attracting, developing and retaining our school psychologists, social workers [and] counselors to really work in support of our students."
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