NM joins lawsuit over mental health funding for students
The New Mexico Department of Justice announced on Tuesday it has joined 15 other states in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education's discontinuation in April of grants under the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The law, which U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) played a role in crafting, included enhanced measures to address gun violence, including more funding for school-based mental health programs.
Specifically, a news release from New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez's office notes, the bill allocated $1 billion to expand access to school-based mental health services. However, the federal education department in April 'issued boilerplate notices discontinuing the grants based on vague and unsupported claims of conflict with current policy priorities,' the news release said. 'The coalition lawsuit argues this violates federal law, including the Administrative Procedure Act and statutory protections under the Safer Communities Act' and has asked the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington to block the cuts.
'It is one of our greatest responsibilities to protect the mental health and safety of our children,' Torrez said in a a statement. 'This funding was secured by Congress—thanks in large part to the leadership of Senator Heinrich—to address the trauma and mental health challenges students face after school shootings and during an ongoing youth mental health crisis. The Department's decision to abruptly eliminate this funding is not only reckless, but it also defies the law and threatens to dismantle programs that are saving lives.'
The state in April also joined in a lawsuit against the federal education department's cancellation of funds for three programs funded through the American Rescue Act to help vulnerable school children recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
AG Torrez joins lawsuit over federal education funds
The new suit comes as the Trump administration puts on hold $6.8 billion in federal funds for K-12 schools, according to an Education Department notice obtained by States Newsroom. The agency informed states on Monday that it would be withholding funding for several programs, including before- and after-school programs, migrant education and English-language learning, among other initiatives.
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