A federal judge in Seattle has ordered the Trump administration to release millions of dollars in school mental health grants that had been frozen. The judge ruled that the government acted unlawfully in withholding the funds.
The grants, created by Congress after the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, were instituted to help districts hire more counselors, psychologists, and social workers, particularly in rural and underserved areas. The Trump administration halted funding, objecting to diversity-related criteria used in the grant selection process and notifying recipients that payments would end by December 2025.
U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson’s preliminary ruling applies to recipients in sixteen Democratic-led states that challenged the Education Department’s decision. Her order restores funding while the case moves forward, including $3.8 million for Madera County, California, and $8 million for Marin County.
The program was originally launched under President Joe Biden, whose administration emphasized hiring mental health professionals from diverse or locally rooted backgrounds. But after President Donald Trump took office, his administration argued those priorities discriminated against other applicants, calling the criteria inconsistent with its vision of “merit, fairness, and excellence in education.” In April, officials announced the grants would be canceled altogether.
Judge Evanson rejected that rationale, describing the department’s actions as “arbitrary and capricious.” She said the affected states had shown clear evidence of harm, citing Maine as an example, where nine rural districts used the grants to hire 10 new school mental health workers and retain four others, positions that would disappear without continued funding.
“Congress created these programs to address the states’ need for school-based mental health services in their schools, and has repeatedly reaffirmed the need for those services over the years by reauthorizing and increasing appropriations to these programs,” Evanson wrote.
“There is no evidence the Department considered any relevant data pertaining to the Grants at issue,” she added, noting that the government also failed to explain why recipients’ work no longer met the “best interest” standard.
The Education Department has not yet commented on the court’s decision, according to AP’s report.
