The Trump administration will cut $1 billion in school mental health grants, citing misuse of the funds for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives rather than direct student support, the Hill reported.

The administration announced it would not renew $1 billion in federal funding intended to support mental health services in schools, arguing that the money has been misused to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion — or DEI — efforts that fall outside the program’s purpose.

The funding, originally established under a bipartisan gun violence prevention law signed by former President Joe Biden, was designed to help schools hire mental health professionals and counselors. However, officials in the Department of Education say grant recipients have instead used the money to pursue what they describe as race-based staffing initiatives.

“These grants are intended to improve American students’ mental health by funding additional mental health professionals in schools and on campuses. Instead, under the deeply flawed priorities of the Biden Administration, grant recipients used the funding to implement race-based actions like recruiting quotas in ways that have nothing to do with mental health and could hurt the very students the grants are supposed to help,” said Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications at the Education Department.

“We owe it to American families to ensure that tax-payer dollars are supporting evidence-based practices that are truly focused on improving students’ mental health,” she added.

Conservative activist Christopher Rufo first reported the funding cuts on the social platform X, where he published excerpts of grant documents detailing race-conscious hiring goals. “The grants were being used to advance left-wing racialism and discrimination,” Rufo wrote. “No more slush fund for activists under the guise of mental health.”

A notice obtained by The Associated Press and sent to members of Congress said the Education Department “plans to re-envision and re-compete its mental health program funds to more effectively support students’ behavioral health needs.”

The decision comes amid broader efforts by the Education Department to scale back federal education funding, which it says has been improperly influenced by DEI priorities. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the agency’s decision to block millions in grants for teacher preparation programs that contained what officials deemed inappropriate DEI elements.

The shift in funding strategy comes at a time when youth mental health remains a pressing concern.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in six U.S. youth aged 6 to 17 experiences a mental health disorder annually, and half of all mental health conditions begin by age 14. The most common diagnoses in children include ADHD, behavior disorders, anxiety, and depression.

Despite these statistics, roughly half of the affected youth receive no treatment.

Schools play a critical role in closing that gap: a 2019 report found that 15% of adolescents aged 12 to 17 received mental health services at school, nearly matching the 17% who saw a specialist provider.

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