The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handed a victory to Maine and 15 other states last week by blocking the U.S. Department of Education from its efforts to cancel funds for mental health services in public schools.
The court determined that the Trump administration “failed to make a strong showing that it engaged in the reasoned decision-making required” to notify the recipients of why their multiyear grants were being discontinued.
This funding represents over $2 million awarded to Maine to hire mental health service providers at districts across the state.
The court’s permanent injunction issued does not require the department to release any funds to the states that sued, but does require it to issue new funding decisions.
The Maine DOE received a notice of continuation Monday that the federal administration is awarding six more months of funding and has requested an updated budget report to determine whether to allow this grant to continue through the end of the year.
The Maine DOE is currently utilizing grant award carryover, as well as a five-week interim grant award of approximately $164,000, to support the nine participating School Administrative Units in retaining their school-based mental health providers.
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