# 119-hr-6131: Increasing Access to Mental Health in Schools Act

119-hr-6131, Increasing Access to Mental Health in Schools Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28] (D-CA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6131
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-6131
- Congress: 119
- Title: Increasing Access to Mental Health in Schools Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-11-19
- Sponsor: Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 31
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Expands school-based mental health staffing in low-income districts**. This bill would fund a pipeline of training, placement, and retention programs plus a loan-repayment option to get more counselors, social workers, and psychologists into high-need schools. - Families and students: Would increase access to school mental health help in low-income local educational agencies and target students at risk, including English learners, homeless youth, and students in foster care. It sets target staffing ratios such as a school counselor 1:250 and a school psychologist 1:500. - Schools and districts: Would fund five-year grants to partnerships between low-income LEAs and graduate programs to train and place providers. Grants can cover administrative placement costs and pay all or part of a graduate's salary for up to the first three years after degree or licensure. - Providers and trainees: Would create a loan-repayment program that requires five consecutive years of service, pays 1/5 of eligible loans each year and the remainder in year five, and caps total payments at $200,000 per person; payments count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness. *This bill would increase federal spending by authorizing $200 million annually starting in fiscal year 2026 and additional unspecified sums for the loan-repayment program.*

## Cosponsors (31)

- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2] (R-NE), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Brown, Shontel M. [D-OH-11] (D-OH), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick, Sheila [D-FL-20] (D-FL), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Craig, Angie [D-MN-2] (D-MN), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Dean, Madeleine [D-PA-4] (D-PA), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. DeLauro, Rosa L. [D-CT-3] (D-CT), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark [D-CA-10] (D-CA), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-3] (D-PA), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. García, Jesús G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4] (D-IL), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gottheimer, Josh [D-NJ-5] (D-NJ), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Krishnamoorthi, Raja [D-IL-8] (D-IL), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lynch, Stephen F. [D-MA-8] (D-MA), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McClain Delaney, April [D-MD-6] (D-MD), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McClellan, Jennifer L. [D-VA-4] (D-VA), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ-8] (D-NJ), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-19] (D-CA), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] (D-ME), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ramirez, Delia C. [D-IL-3] (D-IL), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Sorensen, Eric [D-IL-17] (D-IL), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9] (D-FL), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Strickland, Marilyn [D-WA-10] (D-WA), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13] (D-MI), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2] (D-MS), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2] (D-HI), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Whitesides, George [D-CA-27] (D-CA), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bishop, Sanford D. [D-GA-2] (D-GA), 2025-11-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rescom. Hernández, Pablo Jose [D-PR-At Large] (D-PR), 2025-12-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Harder, Josh [D-CA-9] (D-CA), 2026-01-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Green, Al [D-TX-9] (D-TX), 2026-02-23T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Loan relief for school mental health staff: benefit, high. If enacted, you could get federal student loan help for five straight years of work as a school mental health provider in a low-income district. The Department would pay 1/5 of your starting loan balance after each of the first four completed years, and the rest after year five, up to $200,000 tota…
- Grants to expand school mental health staff: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Education Department would run 5-year competitive grants to train, place, and keep school mental health staff in low-income districts; the first five awards would go to five different states. Grants could fund training and pay all or part of a new hire’s salary for up to the first 3…
- Map school mental health shortage areas: benefit, low. If enacted, the Education Department would study how to map areas that lack school mental health providers. The formula would use data such as child counts, poverty rates, education levels, special education rates, youth crime, provider counts, and students from military families. The Secretary wou…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-2550: Protect America's Workforce Act
- 119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hres-70: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains…
- 119-hr-1589: American Dream and Promise Act of 2025
- 119-hr-17: Paycheck Fairness Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-6131 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6131)

## Related
- [119-hr-2550: Protect America's Workforce Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2550)
- [119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2102)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hres-70: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should take…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hres-70)
- [119-hr-1589: American Dream and Promise Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1589)
- [119-hr-17: Paycheck Fairness Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-17)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6131 (as of 2026-04-21).