Maine lawmakers give preliminary approval for student mental health funding
One in six Maine children have been diagnosed with anxiety, and 7% are struggling with depression, according to data from the John T. Gorman Foundation.(Photo by Getty Images)
As the state continues to grapple with its record of not providing adequate behavioral health support for young people, a proposal to make funds available for schools to hire licensed behavioral and mental health experts has received initial backing from the Maine Legislature.
The Maine House of Representatives passed LD 858 on Wednesday with 79 members voting in favor and 68 opposed. The Senate passed it without a roll call vote. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Lori Gramlich (D-Old Orchard Beach), will go back to both chambers for final enactment votes.
The bill establishes a program within the Maine Department of Education to provide grants to districts that contract licensed professionals for behavioral and mental health services. The funds can only be used to cover those not otherwise covered or reimbursable through MaineCare, the state's Medicaid program.
Proponents of the bill — including educators, administrators and medical professionals — say the grant program is much needed as Maine educators are not adequately trained to manage worsening student behavior issues, according to a 2025 Maine Education Policy Research Institute report.
Critics of the proposal said it infringes on a parent's rights when their child seeks counseling at school, and raised concern about the limited information about what kind of services would be covered under the grants.
Gramlich said one in six Maine children have been diagnosed with anxiety, and 7% are struggling with depression. Further, 20% of Maine children have experienced two or more Adverse Childhood Experiences — higher than the national average of 17%. ACEs include experiences like violence or abuse, and the stress and trauma that accompanies them can have a lasting negative impact on a child's wellbeing, according to data from the John T. Gorman Foundation that she cited during the floor discussion Wednesday.
'Some school districts do offer these types of services in a school-based setting, but the current availability of school-based services is nowhere near adequate. Even when these school-based services are currently available, the funding of these services is so lean and precarious that the future of these programs is constantly in question,' she said, of the proposal that will cost $1.3 million in state funding.
'These kids need help now. LD 858 would be an important step toward ensuring Maine students have the mental and behavioral health services they need,' she said.
Rep. Sheila Lyman (R-Livermore Falls) raised concern about what she said was a lack of clarity around the scope of services provided. 'What specific behavioral and mental health interventions are we funding? Who decides what is appropriate for each child, and how will parents be informed or asked for consent?' she asked.
'This bill does not sufficiently protect a parent's right to know and direct the mental and behavioral care their child receives in a school setting,' Lyman said.
The Legislature passed a similar bill last year that died on the special appropriations table, where bills that pass but aren't otherwise provided for in the state budget compete for remaining funds. Those that are not explicitly funded by the budget committee ultimately die.
Maine has a record of not providing adequate youth mental health support. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state under the Americans with Disabilities Act for unnecessarily segregating children with behavioral health needs and failing to ensure they could thrive in a community-based setting. The state settled last November, with Gov. Janet Mills saying her administration and the Legislature will continue to invest in mental and behavioral health resources.
'We all strongly agree that in-community behavioral health services are critical, and we are committed to continuing to strengthen the delivery of those services for Maine children who need them,' Mills said in a statement at the time. While the settlement agreement required Maine to expand the availability of community-based behavioral health services for children, it did not specifically add any of these services to schools.
The bill, if funded, 'would provide Maine school-aged children with support they need by meeting them where they are most often, and that is their school,' Gramlich said.
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Some days are quiet and peaceful. Other days, Jenise Griffin's brother Michael Griffin spends hours talking to himself out loud or laughing uncontrollably. Auditory hallucinations, episodes of paranoia and other outbursts also aren't uncommon throughout the day. Michael, 59, was diagnosed with schizophrenia in the 1990s, and spent 23 years at state hospitals and jails, including one in their hometown of Naples, Florida. For the past three years he has lived with Jenise, 67, in Riverview, a small city about 20 minutes from Tampa, where she has been his full-time caregiver. Even though she works from home, balancing caregiving for Michael with her own busy work schedule has been a challenge for Jenise. 'I have to take care of his medications, doctors' appointments, therapists and case worker schedules, so his needs constantly interrupt my day,' she said. 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According to a new report from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, where you live can make all the difference—and 48% of states are on the brink of a caregiving emergency. After assessing the urgency of local caregiving needs, the authors of the Columbia report, titled 'America's Unseen Workforce: The State of Family Caregiving,' classified all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, into four categories: critical, high risk, safe for now, and well-supported. States in the 'critical' category include: Florida Alabama Arkansas Georgia Louisiana Nevada South Carolina Tennessee States in the 'high risk' states are: Arizona California Hawaii Idaho Kentucky Maryland Michigan Mississippi New Hampshire New Mexico North Carolina Oklahoma Oregon Texas Virginia West Virginia 'These states didn't land in a crisis by chance,' Stacey B. Lee, professor at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School with a joint appointment at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, told HuffPost. 'The Columbia Caregiving Index shows a consistent pattern: a lack of paid leave, low Medicaid reimbursement rates, [Home- and Community-Based Services] HCBS waitlists, and the absence of caregiver tax credits.' So why are some states faring so much worse than others? One reason for this, according to Holly Wiberg, Ph.D., assistant professor of operations research and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College, is that the current landscape of policies to support family caregivers is fragmented, with limited national coverage and a lot of variation on the state level. 'This fragmentation has multiple consequences,' Wiberg explained. 'First, caregivers have inconsistent protections with disparate impacts on their own lives and those of their patients. Second, this creates a challenging landscape to navigate, involving multiple agencies, which imposes a further burden on caregivers. The current model is unsustainable and places an undue burden on caregivers, both unpaid and underpaid.' That's been the case for Elizabeth Miller, 53, of Georgia, who spent years juggling caring for her aging parents while raising school-age children and working full time. 'They were some of the most exhausting and emotionally challenging years of my life,' she said. 'I felt completely overwhelmed, isolated and unprepared. I had no prior caregiving experience to draw from, and every day felt like a steep learning curve.' Trying to balance caregiving with parenting and a career meant a demanding schedule for Miller. 'I constantly felt pulled in two directions — guilty when I had to step away from work to care for them, and distracted and depleted when I was at work, worrying about everything that still needed to be done at home,' she said. What Miller and Jenise experience likely sounds familiar to anyone who has been a family caregiver. 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'The United States remains one of the least supportive high-income countries for caregivers,' Lee said. 'Policies fall short because they were never built to treat caregiving as essential labor. They assume it will happen informally, unpaid, and out of view, usually by women. That's not support — that's systemic erasure.' According to Lee, the systems currently in place assume that caregiving is 'endless, free, and invisible.' Plus, as Wiberg pointed out, caregiving roles are not equally distributed across the population. 'The burden falls hardest on women, especially Black and Latina women, and on low-income families with no access to institutional support,' Lee said. On top of all the emotional and logistical challenges of caregiving, it can be a huge financial strain on family members — who are typically paid little or nothing for their services. 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'He is 270 pounds, so that doesn't cover the food he eats monthly,' she said. 'He had been giving me $400 a month, but I spend much of that on extra food, his pharmacy co-pays, his life insurance, and other necessities.' And like so many others who require care, Michael depends on Medicaid for health care. But Jenise and other caregivers fear that a reduction in benefits is imminent. That's at least in part because in a few short months, the Trump administration has been taking significant steps towards dismantling Medicaid as we know it. At this point, it's unclear how much damage these laws and policies will do, but it's safe to say things won't be getting better. If signed into law, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed in the House of Representatives on May 22, would make the biggest cuts to Medicaid in the program's 60-year history. It's estimated that the bill would reduce federal Medicaid spending by $625 billion, causing 10.3 million people to lose their Medicaid coverage by 2034. 'The caregiver crisis is fueled by years of underinvestment — and it's about to get worse,' said Kim Musheno, senior director of Medicaid policy at The Arc of the United States. With caregivers already burned out and stretched thin financially, even minor cuts to Medicaid would make a major difference. 'If it becomes law, it will blow a hole in the safety net,' Musheno explained. 'Medicaid is the main source of long-term care in this country, including home- and community-based services that allow people with disabilities to live at home instead of in institutions. And when states face cuts, history tells us what happens: services that help families — like respite care, personal care assistants, and other supports — are the first to go.' Lacking adequate support from the state or federal government, caregivers like Miller have formed their own communities. 'There is a beautiful, grassroots network of caregiver-led organizations out there offering real help,' said Miller, whose Atlanta-based group, Happy Healthy Caregiver, helps caregivers find local resources and navigate the complicated systems in Georgia. But these groups are no replacement for laws and policies that provide actual resources and programs for caregivers. 'Without sustainable financial support and infrastructure, I worry these vital lifelines will burn out, just like so many caregivers do,' she explained. In order for that not to happen, Miller knows what she needs. 'What I need most as a caregiver — and what so many of us are lacking — is time back,' she said. 'Real respite options, financial compensation that reflects the value of our work, and a community of support that truly understands what we're navigating every day.' According to Miller, true respite is more than a day off. 'It means having the financial and practical resources in place to ensure your loved one is safe and well cared-for while you take a real break,' she said. 'Without that, respite is just another wishlist item.' So what would it take for caregivers to get actual support, in the form of programs and services that would genuinely make their lives easier? 'The biggest issue is simple: funding,' Musheno said. 'Good ideas don't go far if there's no money to make them real.' There also has to be a general shift of mentality, away from viewing caregiving as expected and invisible labor, and toward it being seen as legitimate and essential work. 'Unless we commit to federal caregiving infrastructure — paid leave, portable benefits, caregiver tax credits, and living wages for home care workers — we are not solving this crisis. We are institutionalizing harm,' Lee said. Though the situation is looking especially bleak at the moment, there are things you can do to help support caregivers. First, Miller suggests talking to caregivers to get an idea of what they're going through, and sharing their stories. You can also let your voice be heard through the ballot box by voting for candidates who support paid family leave, caregiver tax credits and respite programs. Additionally, Lee recommends organizing within churches, faith-based networks and community health centers. 'These institutions often carry more political and cultural weight in Southern states than formal lobbying efforts, and they're increasingly vocal on elder care and caregiver equity,' she explained. You may also want to seek out volunteering opportunities with organizations for caregivers. Finally, if you know a caregiver, ask how you can support them directly. This might mean grocery shopping, running errands, or spending time with their loved one so they get a much-needed break. 'At the end of the day, caring for the people we love shouldn't be this hard,' Miller said. 'The system should work with us — not against us.' The 1 Truly Difficult Part About Being A Caregiver That Often Gets Overlooked Our Daughter Was Born With A Rare Genetic Difference. Here's The Secret To Keeping Our Marriage Strong As Caregivers. I Was My Mom's Caregiver When She Was Terminal. I Was Shocked By What I Didn't Know About Dying.
