Murphy Reintroduces Legislation to Increase Mental Health Resources for Students, Reduce Police Presence in Schools

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, alongside Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), reintroduced the Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act, legislation to improve educational outcomes by redirecting existing resources towards counselors, social workers, and other services to create supportive environments in schools, as well as prohibiting the use of federal funds for police in schools. The bill would also provide a standalone grant program to help districts hire additional counselors, social workers and other health providers.

"Kids struggling with mental health and familial trauma deserve the support of trained professionals, not an entry point to the criminal justice system," said Murphy. "My bill would make sure local school districts are investing in the most effective resources for improving student safety in schools: guidance counselors, social workers, and mental health professionals."

"Too many young people walk into school carrying burdens no child should have to bear, and our response cannot be handcuffs and surveillance," said Senator Booker. "This legislation does what schools actually need: it invests in counselors, social workers, and mental health professionals who see our children as kids who need support, not suspects who need policing. When a student is struggling, the question should never be how we punish them. It should be how do we help them."

"Students across the country deserve safe learning environments and mental health resources, and to be treated with dignity. Policing and criminalizing students does not help us meet this mission; it puts us farther from it," said Senator Markey. "The Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act will provide the necessary resources and support that young people, teachers, and communities have advocated for. We must continue to fight for these essential resources, including counselors and trauma-informed services, so that all students have a healthy and safe learning environments where they can thrive inside and outside the classroom."

The Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act would:

• Direct federal funding toward evidence-based services that improve academic outcomes and address the needs of marginalized students;
• Divert federal funding away from increasing the presence of police in schools; and
• Support local education agencies that want to terminate their contracts with local law enforcement agencies and invest public funding in personnel and services that create safe and inclusive schools for all students.

The Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act is supported by the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Center for Law and Social Policy, SPLC Action Fund, Human Rights Campaign, National Urban League, the Justice Collaborative, Girls Inc. Advancement Project, Open Society Policy Center, the Center for Popular Democracy, National Women's Law Center, Center for Disability Rights, Drug Policy Alliance, National Center for Learning Disabilities, National Disability Rights Network, the Daniel Initiative, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, the Criminalization of Poverty Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, the National Center for Youth Law, Education Law Center (PA), PolicyLink, the Boston Teachers Union, the Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston, National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI), and GLSEN.

The Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act is part of a package of education-focused bill introductions from Senator Murphy this week, alongside the Protecting Our Students in Schools Act and Magnet Schools Accessibility, Growth, and Nonexclusionary Enrollment Transformation (MAGNET) Act.

Read the Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act full bill text here.