Student mental health services in Washington’s public schools are paid for through a mix of sources: state K-12 staffing formulas, state grants, federal funds, Medicaid reimbursement for eligible services, and regional or local levies. Each layer matters, but the federal piece has become the least dependable — and PTAs have a role to play at every level.
Much of the recent uncertainty traces to a set of congressionally approved, school-based mental health grants that the U.S. Department of Education has tried to cancel. Washington has fought back in court more than once. Attorney General Nick Brown first led a coalition of states in July 2025, secured a ruling in December 2025 that the cancellations were unlawful, and returned to court in July 2026 when the department moved to terminate the same grants anyway. Losing that funding would cost an estimated $20 million in mental health services for Washington students. The litigation is ongoing, and the coalition has won several favorable rulings so far.
The need for these dollars is well documented. The two federal programs at the center of the fight — the Mental Health Services Professional Demonstration (MHSP) and School-Based Mental Health Services (SBMH) grants — are the only federal grants dedicated to building the school mental health workforce: the counselors, psychologists, and social workers students rely on. On April 28, 2026, National PTA joined 137 national, state, and local organizations in a letter urging Congress to provide $250 million for these programs in fiscal year 2027.
The picture at the state level is mixed. During the 2025-26 biennium, HB 2038 and its companion SB 5799 would have created a Youth Behavioral Health Account, funded by an additional business and occupation tax on social media platforms. Neither bill advanced out of committee. Washington State PTA supports policies and funding that give every student access to behavioral and mental health services, and will keep tracking related bills in the 2027-28 biennium.
Federal funding is increasingly at risk, but it isn’t the only lever. PTAs can advocate at the local, state, and federal levels — and the more voices weighing in, the stronger the case for keeping mental health support in front of the students who need it.
Sources: National PTA FY27 letter (pta.org); AG Brown coalition on school mental health grants (atg.wa.gov); WSPTA 2025 Legislative Session Scorecard (wastatepta.org)