HHS is providing $50 million in funding to states to provide school-based medical services.
According to a Jan. 24 news release from the agency, the funding is designed to make health services, especially mental health services, more accessible to children.
The agency will provide grant funding to 20 states. According to the news release, half of the grant funding will go to states that do not currently have school-based services through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, and half will go to states that already have these programs to expand them.
The funding "will make it easier for states to support schools in providing critical health care services, especially mental health services, for millions of students across the nation," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, EdD, wrote in a Jan. 24 letter to state governors.