Federal funding to bring mental health professionals into under-resourced schools
H.R. 6131 — Increasing Access to Mental Health in Schools Act · Filed by Judy Chu (D-CA) · 31 cosponsors · Introduced Nov 19, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill creates a federal grant program to increase mental health professionals (counselors, psychologists, social workers) in low-income schools by funding partnerships between universities and school districts. It also establishes a student loan repayment program for mental health providers who commit to working in low-income schools for five years, with up to $200,000 in loan forgiveness per person.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is workforce development and service expansion in underserved public schools through grants and loan forgiveness—a direct public-health intervention, not a market mechanism or corporate benefit.
What the text implies
- Loan repayment may incentivize mid-career professionals to switch to school-based work, potentially creating shortages in other mental health sectors (community health centers, hospitals) if not offset by broader workforce growth.
- The bill's focus on low-income districts may inadvertently widen disparities in non-low-income schools if federal funding does not expand the overall mental health workforce pipeline.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
graduate students in school psychology, counseling, and social work programs; universities offering accredited school-based mental health graduate programs; low-income school districts (reduced hiring/training costs)