But just because we鈥檙e always worrying doesn鈥檛 mean that we鈥檙e always wrong. Children today are struggling with their mental health 鈥� struggling to maintain a semblance of hope about the future they鈥檙e inheriting. 鈥� report feeling so discouraged that it interferes with their daily lives. 

This youth mental health crisis has been with us for a moment. In 2018, in response to the horrifying Parkland, Florida, school shooting, President Donald Trump鈥檚 using federal School Safety funding for investments to 鈥渆xpand the pipeline of school-based mental health services providers.鈥� The ensuing began in 2019, near the end of Trump鈥檚 first term. 

And yet, despite the issue鈥檚 ongoing urgency, the second Trump administration . Among the schools that felt that loss was the Multicultural Learning Center, a public charter school on the outskirts of Los Angeles County. As the administration鈥檚 decision works its way through the courts, it鈥檚 worth considering what might be lost if we stop investing in supporting children鈥檚 mental health. 

A $4.6M grant for students鈥� well-being

Winter is sunny in Canoga Park, where the Multicultural Learning Center鈥檚 campus is cloudless, ice-free and pushing 70 degrees. The air鈥檚 crisp on a dry December Thursday in the school鈥檚 courtyard garden, which hosts a series of green, thriving native plants and a sign that outlines the school鈥檚 goals for its learners: 鈥淐aring, Respectful, Responsible, Safe, Tolerant.鈥� 

The dual language immersion charter school opened in after California voters approved a statewide mandate largely banning bilingual education. Its status as a charter allowed it flexibility from that decision, which it used to pursue a child-focused pedagogy in both English and Spanish. Co-founder and executive director Gayle Nadler says that these elements serve the goal of 鈥渓earner agency. We want our students to be ready to advocate for themselves.鈥�

This focus on students鈥� social skills and well-being sharpened as the school reopened after the pandemic. This tracked national鈥攁nd international鈥攖rends. A of the pandemic鈥檚 impact on children found that they 鈥渃onsistently point[ed] to a decline in child wellbeing globally.鈥� At the Multicultural Learning Center, school leaders now estimate that they had capacity to support only one-quarter of their children who needed services. 

In 2022, seeking to grow that capacity, the school applied with several other charters for one of . They were awarded nearly $4.6 million over five years, which launched at the beginning of 2023. Simultaneously, the school secured funding from to construct a small 鈥淲ellness Center鈥� where students could receive the mental health support they needed. 

That $4.6 million made it possible for the school to staff the center with two full-time therapists and a rotating group of graduate interns preparing for careers in social work or therapy. 鈥淭he funds get used to partner with universities to have master鈥檚-level students do their fieldwork with us,鈥� Nadler says, 鈥渢o hire recently graduated candidates from those same universities to work on our staff.鈥� 

The program at Multicultural Learning Center modeled the twin purposes of the grant: create more demand in the job market for school-based mental health therapists by funding those positions while making the schools a training ground for future therapists.

When the administration zeroed out the grants last April, it blocked MLC from accessing the last $1.9 million originally budgeted for the project.

The sudden loss of funds left grantees like Nadler in a lurch. She estimates that her school鈥檚 share of the money raised their mental health services capacity to a level that they were meeting the needs of at least 95% of students who needed support. To try to recover the resources they鈥檇 been expecting, the school joined a lawsuit headed by Washington state. 

The federal government technically ended the grants by denying their renewal, arguing that they were no longer aligned with the president鈥檚 second term priorities. While federal grants are subject to regular reviews to ensure that grantees are meeting expectations, the Multicultural Learning Center and their co-plaintiffs countered that the administration had made the choice to cancel their grants without any substantive consideration of the work being done. 

In December, , and ordered the administration to undertake an appropriate review of the grants by the end of the month. The administration then disbursed small 鈥渋nterim鈥� grants 鈥� $90,000 in the Multicultural Learning Center鈥檚 case 鈥� while individual reviews took place. As the deadline for these reviews neared, the Education Department requested an extension from the court while it prepared an appeal.聽

On Feb. 24, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused, ruling that the administration appeared unlikely to convince the courts that it had provided grantees adequate reason for canceling their funding. 

In the meantime, the ruling meant that the department had to release the originally promised 2026 funds for the mental health grants for recipients like the Multicultural Learning Center.

The saga is far from over. As the Education Department plans its appeal, it released six months of the promised 2026 funding. In a letter sent to grantees, the department explained that the remaining half may be made available after it conducts an 鈥渦pdated performance and budget report,鈥� depending on how the lawsuit is ultimately settled.

For now, the school is muddling through, staffing the Wellness Center through the end of this school year with the half-year of funding they were able to pry loose through the courts. Nadler says it鈥檚 a priority to maintain these services, but isn鈥檛 sure where she鈥檒l find the funds to replace the federal resources if the Trump administration ultimately succeeds in blocking the rest of the 2026 money they鈥檇 budgeted for. 

Taking care of the kids still No. 1

Almost anything can become normal if we let it. Remember traveling without a phone in your pocket? Remember when school shootings were so rare that, when they occurred, we expected our political leaders to act to make them even less likely?

Humans can get used to most anything. But that doesn鈥檛 mean that we can navigate any particular new normal with an equal degree of ease. This is particularly true for children, who are less practiced at accommodation than their parents and caregivers. You might have grown used to bloodstained classrooms and brazen public corruption, but your 11-year-old鈥檚 gonna have questions when they first see these sorts of things. 

As I鈥檝e written many times now, this is the key to understanding the United States鈥檚 youth mental health crisis. The various tech boogeymen haunting public discourse 鈥� smartphones, social media, screens more generally 鈥� are real problems, but insufficient for understanding the depth of the problem. No, today鈥檚 kids are gloomy because they are clearsighted: we have dealt them a genuinely terrible hand. 

To dig them (and ourselves) out of this hole, we need to 1) make actual, effective steps towards a safer, stabler and more dignified world worthy of our children鈥檚 dreams; and 2) provide mental health services to help repair the damage we鈥檝e done to their well-being. 

鈥淭he number one thing you can do to prevent school violence,鈥� Nadler says, 鈥渋s mental health counseling, build[ing] relationships, taking care of the kids. That鈥檚 the number one thing. It鈥檚 not metal detectors, it鈥檚 not active shooter drills, it鈥檚 not armed guards, none of that.鈥� 

鈥淚 just can鈥檛 imagine a world,鈥� she added, 鈥渨here we don鈥檛 take care of people 鈥� and it starts with children.鈥�

But the state鈥檚 request before the U.S. Department of Education has raised concerns by advocates who worry needy students could 鈥渓ose both dedicated attention and resources鈥� in Indiana and other states.   

Indiana joined Iowa this fall in asking the U.S. Department of Education for permission to merge their federal 鈥淭itle鈥� education grants – such as Title I to combat poverty and Title III to help English Language Learners 鈥� into one block grant for states and schools.

A similar attempt by Oklahoma is on hold after state Superintendent Ryan Walters resigned in September, while several state school leaders have asked U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to work with Congress to ease restrictions.

鈥淥ur goals鈥nclude less red tape for our people,鈥� state Education Secretary Katie Jenner told the state school board. 鈥淲e’re shifting towards鈥he flexibility to put the resources where they’re needed the most.鈥�

At the same time, advocacy groups are shouting warnings that removing guardrails on the $30 billion in Title grants, created in 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson鈥檚 鈥淲ar on Poverty,鈥� could lead to the country鈥檚 most needy students being left out.

In Indiana, officials have asked the U.S. Department of Education to pool the more than $350 million it receives in Title grants in the name of efficiency 鈥� to save time and millions of dollars now spent documenting how each dollar is used for specific groups of students.

Instead, the state wants the freedom to use the money for its main statewide education priorities 鈥� literacy, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) proficiency and reshaping high school education.

It鈥檚 also seeking freedom to spend federal School Improvement Grants 鈥� money now targeted at improving failing schools 鈥� to go instead toward state school choice goals.

Indiana would create an 鈥渋nnovation fund鈥� with that money to help other schools nearby that students could choose instead. Such a fund would 鈥渂etter support a growing ecosystem of effective, innovative school models,鈥� according to Indiana鈥檚 application.

鈥淪tudents and families cannot wait 鈥� sometimes for years 鈥� for a chronically underperforming school to improve in order to receive access to high-quality instruction,鈥� the application adds..

Both Iowa and Indiana鈥檚 request to the Education Department 鈥� with rulings expected early next year 鈥� 鈥渁re expected to set a precedent for the scope of future waivers granted to other states,鈥� the American School Superintendents Association

Indiana鈥檚 request, however, is raising concerns from several education advocacy groups 鈥� including The Education Trust, All4Ed, UnidosUS and the National Parents Union 鈥� that removing restrictions on the money will mean that students that most need extra help won鈥檛 get it.

鈥淭his approach fundamentally misunderstands 鈥� and threatens to undermine 鈥� the purpose of these targeted federal programs, which were created to address specific, documented gaps in support for vulnerable student populations,鈥� the groups said in a . 鈥淲hen Indiana lists numerous state priorities without any specific commitments to individual student groups, it signals that these populations would lose both dedicated attention and resources under the proposed consolidation.鈥�

Indiana鈥檚 request to the U.S. Department of Education to waive restrictions on the money goes beyond Iowa鈥檚, said Nicholas Munyan-Penney, Assistant Director of P12 Policy at The Education Trust. Indiana is seeking leeway from restrictions both for the state and for individual schools and districts, while Iowa is asking for an exemption just for the state, he said.

鈥淚n its current form, Indiana鈥檚 is much more dramatic and wide-ranging in its scope and potential impact,鈥� Munyan-Penney said.

Within Indiana, the Indiana State Teachers Association is also raising concerns.

鈥淚STA believes flexibility can be beneficial when paired with transparency, collaboration and a clear focus on student success,鈥� the association . 鈥淗owever, we remain concerned about provisions in the waiver that could reduce input from educators and parents and divert critical resources from schools working to close opportunity gaps.鈥�

The union also has concerns about shifting the School Improvement Grant money.

鈥淭he proposed waiver could redirect these funds to schools or programs that are not identified as low-performing, potentially diluting the impact on historically underserved students,鈥� the union said.

And residents of Gary, a high-poverty city, also worry that the neediest students will be left out if guardrails are removed.

鈥淲hen I hear鈥his waiver is about 鈥榗utting red tape,鈥� I don鈥檛 buy it,鈥� Natalie Ammons, grandmother of three students in the Gary school district, testified last week in a webcast to Congressional staff. 鈥淚t may be cutting something, but it鈥檚 not red tape 鈥� it鈥檚 cutting away the few protections families like mine have left.鈥�

Asked for school officials who are seeking the waivers, the Indiana Department of Education did not suggest any. 社区黑料 also requested a copy of feedback the department sought from residents and officials on the waiver, but the department did not provide it.

The goal of combining Title grants, which total about $30 billion a year nationally, have been a growing priority of Republican officials after a version of it was proposed in Project 25. Oklahoma and Iowa proposed merging them this spring, but concerns arose about what the U.S. Department of Education could legally allow.

Trump also put a hold on disbursing several Title grants to states this year before backing down.

In July, McMahon encouraging them 鈥渢o seek creative and effective waivers for improving student academic achievement and maximizing the impact of Federal funds鈥� and spelling out a waiver process.

Title I, which accounts for more than half of that money, is awarded to states and schools according to poverty levels and enrollment. All4Ed, estimates that more than two thirds of school districts receive some Title I money, though sometimes in low amounts if poverty is low.

Indianapolis Public Schools, for example, are scheduled to receive $15.7 million in Title I money next school year, while several smaller districts receive well under $100,000.