Senate Bill 826: School Mental Health Support Act

• Appropriates $50,000,000 in recurring funds for the 2024-2025 fiscal year to the Department of Public Instruction to establish a School Mental Health Grant Program that provides grants to public school units to contract with mental health support personnel (counselors, psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, and other licensed mental health professionals).

• Prioritizes grant awards to school units serving students with limited or no access to mental health services, including uninsured students and students with disabilities, with grants required to supplement rather than replace existing mental health funding.

• Establishes a Mental Health Worker Loan Repayment Program administered by the State Education Assistance Authority, appropriating $50,000,000 in recurring funds to provide loan repayment grants of 20% of student debt to eligible mental health workers employed full-time in high-need areas and who graduated from University of North Carolina constituent institutions.

• Limits Mental Health Worker Loan Repayment Program recipients to a maximum of five years of assistance, with awards made no later than October 1 each year, and allows a lottery selection process if funding is insufficient for all applicants.

• Requires the Department of Public Instruction and State Education Assistance Authority to report annually to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on grant recipients, funding amounts, and services provided, effective July 1, 2024.