Maryland officials announce $120M for K-12 behavioral health services

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland officials are highlighting the availability of $120 million in grants for mental health services to help K-12 students over the next year and a half.

Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, described the funding at a news conference on Tuesday as a historic investment that is critical to the state’s 900,000 school children at a time when kids are facing the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on learning and socialization.

The grants have been set aside to provide counseling, as well as behavioral health services in school and in communities.

PHOTO INFO: Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson speaks at a news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 in Annapolis, Md., with members of the Maryland Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports to highlight the availability of $120 million in grants for behavioral health services to help K-12 students in the state over the next year and a half. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

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