S4468-119

What This Bill Does

The Supporting the Mental Health of Educators and Staff Act of 2026 creates several federal activities focused on suicide prevention, mental health, resiliency, and substance use concerns among education professionals and other school staff. The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, must identify and disseminate evidence-based or evidence-informed best practices for preventing suicide, improving mental health and resiliency, and training school personnel to support, maintain, and promote their own mental health.

The bill also requires HHS to establish a national evidence-based or evidence-informed education and awareness initiative, after consulting relevant stakeholders including medical professional associations. The initiative must encourage education professionals and school staff to seek support and care for mental health or substance use concerns, help them identify suicide and mental-health risk factors, teach responses to those risks, and address stigma associated with seeking mental health or substance use disorder services. HHS must update Congress within two years on initiative activities, outcomes, and quantitative and qualitative evaluation metrics. The bill authorizes $10 million per year for fiscal years 2026 through 2028 for this initiative.

The bill amends the Public Health Service Act to add a new section 764B for programs promoting mental health among the education workforce. HHS must award grants or contracts to state educational agencies, local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, or consortia of those entities to establish or improve evidence-based or evidence-informed programs for education professionals and school staff. Funded uses may include awareness about suicide, mental-health, and substance-use risk factors; suicide-prevention and mental-health resiliency programs; peer-support programs; mental health care; follow-up care; telehealth; and referrals by licensed or certified mental health professionals. HHS must prioritize eligible entities in areas with a high percentage of schools receiving Title I, part A financial assistance.

The Secretary may also establish training grants for institutions of higher education, state educational agencies, local educational agencies, state or local governments, Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and other public or private nonprofit entities. These grants support educator preparation, administrator preparation, training, continuing education, or professional development programs that include evidence-based or evidence-informed strategies to address mental and substance use disorders and improve mental health and resiliency among school personnel. Grants and contracts last three years. Applicants must submit applications as required by HHS, and recipients must submit annual reports evaluating funded activities. The bill authorizes $35 million per year for fiscal years 2026 through 2028 for the section 764B programs.

The bill requires HHS, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to conduct a review within two years on improving educator and school-staff mental health and on outcomes of programs authorized by the Act. The review may assess prevalence and severity of mental-health conditions, barriers to accessing care, actions taken by state or local educational agencies, effects of the COVID-19 public health emergency, programs and policies promoting resiliency, and the efficacy of training programs. The review must identify best practices and recommendations to improve mental health and resiliency, remove barriers to care, and promote resiliency in health care settings. The Comptroller General must also report to Congress within four years on how federal substance use disorder and mental-health grant programs address the prevalence and severity of those conditions among education professionals and school staff, including evidence, data, and possible duplicative goals.

Who Benefits and How

Education professionals and school support staff benefit from federal best practices, awareness campaigns, stigma-reduction efforts, peer support, mental health care, follow-up services, telehealth, referrals, and training. State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and institutions of higher education benefit from new grant and contract opportunities to create or improve educator mental-health programs. Schools receiving Title I, part A assistance benefit because HHS must prioritize grants and contracts in areas with high percentages of those schools. Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, state and local governments, and nonprofit training providers benefit from possible training grants. Congress benefits from required HHS updates and GAO analysis on whether federal grants address educator mental-health and substance-use needs.

Who Bears the Burden and How

HHS must identify best practices, establish the national initiative, administer grants and contracts, prioritize Title I school areas, review program outcomes, consult stakeholders, and report to Congress. The Department of Education must consult on best practices. Grant and contract applicants must submit applications with information required by HHS, and grant recipients must comply with three-year grant terms and file annual reports evaluating funded activities. The Government Accountability Office must conduct a four-year review and report on federal mental-health and substance-use grant programs. Federal taxpayers bear the budgetary cost of the $10 million annual awareness initiative authorization and the $35 million annual program authorization for fiscal years 2026 through 2028.

Key Provisions

• Requires HHS and the Department of Education to identify and disseminate best practices for educator suicide prevention, mental health, resiliency, and training within two years.
• Establishes a national education and awareness initiative encouraging education professionals and school staff to seek mental-health and substance-use support, identify risk factors, respond to risks, and reduce stigma.
• Authorizes $10 million per year for fiscal years 2026 through 2028 for the national education and awareness initiative.
• Creates section 764B grants and contracts for state educational agencies, local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and consortia to establish or improve educator mental-health and resiliency programs.
• Prioritizes section 764B awards for eligible entities in areas with a high percentage of schools receiving Title I, part A assistance.
• Authorizes training grants for higher education institutions, education agencies, governments, Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and nonprofits to add mental-health and substance-use strategies to educator preparation and professional development.
• Requires annual grantee reports, an HHS review and report within two years, and a GAO report within four years.