ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL BLOCKS FEDERAL CUTS TO SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH GRANTS

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL BLOCKS FEDERAL CUTS TO SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH GRANTS

July 29, 2026

Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul and a coalition of 15 attorneys general announced a U.S. District Court judge granted a temporary restraining order that blocks the U.S. Department of Education from unlawfully terminating congressionally approved school-based mental health grants.

The order comes just days before the Department of Education threatened to begin terminating grants that provide critical mental health services to more than 50,000 students in Illinois public school students.

"I am pleased the court granted this temporary restraining order to prevent the Trump administration's unlawful interference with federal funding authorized by Congress, at the expense of our children's mental health," Raoul said. "These services support our students and help keep our schools and communities safe, and I will continue to fight for them."

In the wake of devastating school shootings, members of Congress from both parties came together to appropriate $1 billion to permanently bring 14,000 mental health professionals into U.S. schools most in need, especially in low-income and rural communities. The programs have been an incredible success. The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) reported 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 April 2025, the Department of Education notified grantees in Illinois and the coalition states that their grants would be discontinued for conflicting with the Trump administration's new priorities. The department later revealed the grants had been targeted for their perceived support for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. Raoul and the coalition filed a lawsuit earlier this month to prevent the department from unlawfully terminating congressionally approved school-based mental health grants. Despite a previous court order prohibiting it from discontinuing the grants, the administration is attempting to renew its efforts to end essential mental health programming at the end of July by terminating the grants.

This temporary restraining order prevents the department from terminating the mental health grants using new priorities or without providing statutory procedural protections, such as first working with the grantee to resolve any issues. The court scheduled a hearing on a preliminary injunction on Aug. 24, the date the temporary restraining order is set to expire, which would provide longer-term protection for grantees if ordered.

Joining Attorney General Raoul in this lawsuit are attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.