(Inside California Politics) \u2014 California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit in a U.S. district court Friday against the U.S. Department of Education to stop their termination of mental health funding for schools, Bonta announced in a news release.\u00a0<\/p>\n
VIDEO: California files 72nd lawsuit against Trump Administration (June 2026)<\/p>\n
Bonta joined forces with fourteen other attorneys general to file the suit, which challenges the Department’s decision to end funding for the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration and School-Based Mental Health Services grant programs, the news release stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These grants were designed to address shortages for mental health-related staff in schools, such as counselors, psychologists and social workers, according to the Department of Education website.<\/p>\n
In 2025, the two grants awarded a combined total of more than $250 million to state and local agencies, according to grant award reports.\u00a0California agencies received more than $11 million of that funding.<\/p>\n
The attorney general’s office said this is the Department’s second attempt to cut these grants. A U.S. district court found their previous cuts “illegal” in a December 2025 decision. “The Trump Administration is once again trying to take critical mental health funding away from the schools that need it most,” Bonta stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Along with the lawsuit, the attorneys general also “moved for a preliminary injunction,” which would keep the funding in place until the court makes a final decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Congress made clear that students across the country deserve access to these services. That’s why we’re going back to court,” Bonta explained.<\/p>\n
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