Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
This bill creates a School Safety Development Center program within the Department of Homeland Security to fund regional centers that provide schools with individualized consultation, training, and technical assistance to develop, improve, and implement evidence-based school safety and student mental health plans.
Eligible entities (states, SEAs, Tribes, eligible IHEs) may receive grants or cooperative agreements, with up to 95 percent federal share, and awards will prioritize entities with local relationships and underserved communities.
DHS will coordinate with the Department of Education, hire subject-matter experts, establish a Youth Advisory Council, report annually to Congress, and is authorized $25 million per year for FY2026–2030.
Technocratic, low-cost grant program with oversight features is plausible to advance, but requires appropriations and bipartisan floor clearance.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill creates a new federal grant program with clearly defined purposes, statutory authorities, funding authorization, and reporting obligations. It integrates with existing law and provides several concrete program elements while leaving significant operational discretion to the implementing agency.
Liberals emphasize mental-health and equity; conservatives emphasize federal overreach risks.
Liberals emphasize mental-health and equity; conservatives emphasize federal overreach risks.
Generally supportive because the program emphasizes evidence-based violence prevention, student mental health, and attention to underserved communities.
May view the funding and staffing restrictions as insufficient to meet mental health workforce needs, and will watch for equity and civil-rights protections in implementation.
Likely cautiously favorable: program is narrowly scoped, includes evaluation, and prioritizes underserved areas.
Will seek clarity on measurable outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and minimal federal overreach into school operations.
Mixed to somewhat skeptical: supports school safety goals but wary of new federal programs expanding DHS involvement in education.
Concerned about federal role, recurring spending, and possible mission creep into school operations.
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Still ahead
Still ahead
Still ahead
Technocratic, low-cost grant program with oversight features is plausible to advance, but requires appropriations and bipartisan floor clearance.
The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.
Liberals emphasize mental-health and equity; conservatives emphasize federal overreach risks.
Technocratic, low-cost grant program with oversight features is plausible to advance, but requires appropriations and bipartisan floor clea…
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill creates a new federal grant program with clearly defined purposes, statutory authorities, funding authorization, and reporting obligations. It integrates with existin…
Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.