Wisconsin DOJ Joins Lawsuit to Prevent U.S. Department of Education’s Cuts to School Mental Health Grants
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) is joining 14 other states today in filing a complaint to prevent the U.S. Department of Education from unlawfully terminating congressionally approved school-based mental health grants. In defiance of a court order, the Trump administration plans to terminate these grants at the end of July, which is projected to cost the University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction approximately $12.5 million.
“Cutting these mental health grants would be seriously misguided,” said AG Kaul. “The Trump administration’s insistence on putting ideology ahead of kids’ mental health is really outrageous.”
Wisconsin previously brought suit – and has prevailed – in fighting for these mental health grants. But the department has repeatedly dragged its feet, harming the ability of schools and other grantees to address the youth mental health crisis. Now the department threatens to terminate the remaining grants in Wisconsin at the end of July.
In April 2025, the department notified grantees in Wisconsin and the other coalition states that their grants would be discontinued for allegedly conflicting with the Trump administration’s new priorities. In June 2025, Wisconsin and a coalition of states filed a lawsuit against the department over the discontinuation of the grants. Following a preliminary injunction in October 2025, the coalition secured an order in December declaring the department’s discontinuations were unlawful and requiring it to make new continuation decisions. The court also issued a permanent injunction that prohibited the department from implementing the discontinuations “through any means.”
The department has since admitted most of the grants should have been continued, but has continued trying to hinder and ultimately eliminate them. Although the department issued continuation awards through December 31, 2026, the department only provided funding for six months, making planning difficult because grantees do not know how much funding they will get for the fall. The department also threatened not to provide funding for the second half of the year, causing grantees to divert resources and staff from supporting student mental health to filling out paperwork.
The department claimed it planned to review the grants at the six-month mark and then make additional funding determinations. Instead, the department has targeted the grants protected by the original injunction and announced they plan to terminate the grants altogether. By calling this a termination rather than a discontinuation, the administration seeks to circumvent the court’s order, which required them to follow the law with respect to these important mental health grants. Although the coalition continues to fight this attempt to circumvent the court’s order, it filed this new lawsuit to prevent these planned terminations and cover any gaps that would threaten these critical grants.
The coalition alleges that the U.S. Department of Education’s plan to terminate the mental health grants violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution. The coalition has moved for a preliminary injunction to prevent the grants from being terminated.
Joining Wisconsin DOJ in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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