Congress·In Committee·H.R. 4253

Expanding Access to Mental Health Services in Schools Act of 2025

Congress Proposes Grants to Help High-Need Schools Hire and Keep More Mental Health Staff

Jun 30, 2025·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

This bill is one vehicle in a longer effort. See the full story across every version.View effort →

StalledNext up: A house committeeNo action in 12 months

This bill is currently sitting in the House Committee on Education and Workforce. No action has been taken on the proposal since June 2025, and it is considered stalled. The committee must review the bill before it can move forward, but most bills like this never receive a vote.

Legislative Progress

House

No action since June 2025

Senate

President

Law

How we got here

This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.

Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 7108 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 7108 (118th) →

Key Points

Creates a federal grant program to help States and high-need school districts hire and keep more school mental health staff.
Targets districts that fall short of key staffing levels, like 1 school counselor for every 250 students or 1 school psychologist for every 500 students.
Grant money could be used for hiring and for recruiting and retention incentives like salary stipends, relocation help, and student loan repayment.
Grants can last up to 5 years, with a possible 2-year renewal, and at least half of the main grant funding must go directly to high-need school districts.
Schools taking grants must follow student privacy and disability law rules, put annual results reports online, and provide a 25% non-federal funding match.

EducationHealthcareLabor Employment

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

How this policy affects specific groups of people

Mixed Impacts(1)

Child Tax Credit

Neutral

Positive Impacts(3)

Student

Helps

Student Loans

Helps

Tribal Member

Helps

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Jun 30, 2025House

Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

Jun 30, 2025

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Related News

2 articles

Milford Mirror·Jul 1, 2025

U.S. reps from CT push to expand mental health services in schools nationally amid funding cuts

Coverage of the reintroduction of the Expanding Access to Mental Health Services in Schools Act, detailing the proposed grant program to help high-need districts recruit, hire, and retain counselors, psychologists, and social workers.

Center

Nasdaq·Jul 15, 2025

New Bill: Representative Rosa L. DeLauro introduces H.R. 4253: Expanding Access to Mental Health Services in Schools Act of 2025

Explainer-style writeup summarizing H.R. 4253’s grant structure, eligible agencies, staffing-ratio targeting, match requirement, and allowable recruitment/retention incentives.

Center

No votes or related bills recorded for this bill yet.