The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington issued a preliminary injunction that continues to block the U.S. Department of Education’s plan to terminate two school mental health grant programs, the California attorney general said.
The grants are the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program and the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program; Congress created them after the Parkland and Uvalde school shootings to address shortages of school counselors, psychologists, social workers and other mental health professionals, the release said.
The court granted the coalition’s motion because it found the attorneys general are likely to succeed in showing that the Department’s termination plan is unlawful: the Department sought to re-evaluate grants based on new priorities that did not exist when grantees applied and failed to adequately consider grantees’ reliance on the funding, and it did not provide grantees with the notice and opportunity to be heard required before terminating the funding, the release said.
California joined a coalition of 15 attorneys general in the lawsuit; the release lists Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin as the other members of the coalition.
Attorney General said, “The Trump Administration has repeatedly tried to cut critical mental health funding for schools, and we haven’t hesitated to fight back.” He added, “This preliminary injunction keeps these vital resources available to students and families who need them the most.”
The court first halted the termination plan through a temporary restraining order earlier this year. The plan followed an earlier effort to discontinue the grants that the coalition had blocked; the Department then announced a new plan to end the funding under a different regulation, leading to the lawsuit, the release said.
State
Rob Bonta
Attorney General · Democrat
Named once in this story.
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