US cuts $1 billion from school mental health, including $14 million for Wake
The Trump administration is canceling $1 billion in federal school mental health grants — including $14.1 million for Wake County — on the grounds they’re promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
The U.S. Department of Education notified recipients of its School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program in an April 29 letter that it’s cutting off funding at the end of the year. Grant recipients were told the awards, which are being used to do things like hire more therapists and social workers, don’t reflect the priorities of the Trump administration.
“The Department has determined these grantees are violating the letter or purpose of Federal civil rights law; conflict with the Department’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education; undermine the well-being of the students these programs are intended to help; or constitute an inappropriate use of federal funds,” Brandy Brown, the deputy assistant secretary for K-12 education, wrote in an email to members of Congress, Chalkbeat reported.
It’s the latest action by the Trump administration to cancel billions of dollars in federal grants that it says promoted DEI policies and programs. The Trump administration is applying a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision against race-conscious admissions policies at UNC-Chapel Hill and Harvard University to say that DEI violates federal civil rights laws.
Wake schools reviewing its options
In October, the Wake County school system announced it had received a $14.1 million mental health grant over five years.
Wake planned to use the money to hire 27 people, including 20 therapists, to expand mental health services into 40 more schools. Students at those schools would have been able to receive in-person counseling and teletherapy.
“Parents, educators, mental health professionals, and policymakers all recognize that supporting the mental health needs of our students has never been more important,” Wake said in an announcement on its website Friday that the grant had been canceled. “This initiative would have expanded access to mental health services to help more students thrive in the classroom and set them on a path to productive citizenship.”
Wake says it was still in the planning and preparation stage and was in the process of hiring for the new positions.
“We are actively reviewing our options provided under federal regulations,” Wake said. “We will continue to prioritize the mental health and wellness of our students and staff and explore alternative funding opportunities to pursue this critical work.”
Wake is already appealing the cancellation of another federal grant that would have provided $11.8 million to recruit and train teachers in high-needs schools. Like with the mental health grants, the Department of Education accused Wake of promoting DEI in the grant.
Diversity language in grants questioned
The mental health grants had been authorized by Congress in 2022 in response to the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman killed 19 elementary school students and two teachers
In awarding the grants, the Biden administration had listed as one of the priorities increasing the number of school-based mental health services providers “who are from diverse backgrounds or communities.” As a result, Chalkbeat said, applicants tailored their grants to reflect that goal.
In its grant application, Wake said it would fill the new mental health positions with “diverse candidates.”
Now the Trump administration is citing the diversity language to cancel the grants.
“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,” Madi Biedermann, an Education Department spokesperson, wrote in an email to Chalkbeat.
Reaction to grant cancellation
The decision to cancel the grants has drawn praise from conservative groups.
“The Department of Education has terminated $1 billion in grants that were intended to support ‘school-based mental health programs,’ but were being used to advance left-wing racialism and discrimination,” wrote Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist who broke the news about the cancellation on X on April 29. “No more slush fund for activists under the guise of mental health.”
But the decision to eliminate the grants has been criticized by Democratic politicians, school leaders and mental health activists.
“This is a direct attack on the safety and well-being of America’s children — a repugnant act of moral vandalism that will endanger millions of lives,” Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in a statement Wednesday.
This story was originally published May 3, 2025 at 3:10 PM.
