Press Release  AG Campbell Sues Department of Education For Unlawfully Cutting Mental Health Funding

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) for illegally withholding congressionally approved funding for mental health programs in K-12 schools.

“As our young people face a nationwide mental health epidemic, it is critical to ensure they have access to the resources they need, including mental health professionals in schools,” said AG Campbell. “The Trump Administration does not have the power to arbitrarily revoke grant funding that provides critical mental health services to our students. I will continue to fight against unlawful federal actions that harm our children.”

After the tragic deaths of 19 students and two teachers during a mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, a bipartisan Congress appropriated $1 billion in order to permanently bring 14,000 mental health professionals into schools that needed them the most. According to the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), grantees served nearly 775,000 students and hired nearly 1,300 school mental health professionals during the first year of funding. NASP also found a 50% reduction in suicide risk at high-need schools, decreases in absenteeism and behavioral issues, and increases in positive student-staff engagement based on data from sampled programs.

In Massachusetts, one of the programs supported by this funding is Project Beacon, administered through the University of Massachusetts Boston. Project Beacon prepares 50 school psychologists and counselors to work in local, high-need communities to increase students’ access to educational services and to promote school safety through prevention. Because of the termination of this program, thousands of low-income American students across several school districts in greater Boston will lose the support of these psychologists and counselors in training.  

The DOE awarded grants spanning a five-year project period and makes yearly decisions to continue each grant’s funding. As required by its regulations, the DOE considered the grantee’s performance when deciding whether to continue funding.  

On April 29, 2025, the DOE sent boilerplate notices to grantees claiming that their grants now conflicted with the Trump Administration’s priorities and funding would be discontinued. 

The attorneys general’s complaint alleges that the Department of Education’s funding cuts violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution, as conclusory assertions of “new priorities” are not a lawful basis to discontinue grant funding. The attorneys general ask a federal judge to rule the funding cuts are illegal and seek an injunction rescinding the non-continuation decision. 

Joining the AG Campbell in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.

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