What's happening
This bill creates a loan repayment program for youth mental health professionals working in underserved New York schools.
Why it matters
Addresses workforce shortages in school mental health. by incentivizing professionals—such as school psychologists, counselors, and social workers—to work in schools where student access to mental health support falls below recommended levels.
Targets support to the most underserved communities. , potentially reducing disparities in youth mental health care by prioritizing schools with the highest need for mental health staff.
Provides significant, multi-year financial relief. (up to $30,000 per year, for up to four years) to qualifying professionals, which could help attract and retain talent in high-need school settings and reduce the burden of student loan debt.
Integrates with existing aid programs. , allowing award recipients to combine this new loan repayment benefit with other financial aid, potentially making a career in school-based youth mental health more sustainable and appealing over the long term.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Pay Off School Mental Health Loans
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to higher education
- Referred to higher education
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1003
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
Introduced by Sen. BROUK -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to creating the schoolbased mental health loan repayment program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature acknowledges that there is a mental health crisis among our youth, especially in our most vulnerable communities. The legislature also acknowledges that there is a shortage of mental health professionals working in schools across the state. In order to combat the youth mental health crisis, the legislature acknowledges the benefits of a loan repayment program for the professionals working in the most underserved schools.
§ 2. Section 605 of the education law is amended by adding a new subdivision 13 to read as follows:
13. New York state school-based mental health loan repayment program. a. Purpose. The president shall grant loan repayment awards for the purpose of increasing the number of youth mental health professionals employed in underserved schools across New York state. Such awards shall be made on a competitive basis to applicants who have graduated from an institution of higher education approved or registered by the regents.
b. Eligibility. (1) To be eligible to receive an award pursuant to this subdivision, an applicant must be a resident of New York state who has graduated from an institution of higher education and has an outstanding student loan debt.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, a youth mental health professional can be a certified or licensed school psychologist, school counselor, or social worker.
(3) Underserved schools shall be schools with student to mental health professional ratios below the recommended levels promulgated by the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02214-01-5
president in conjunction with the commissioner for purposes of this subdivision.
(4) Such award shall be made annually to eligible applicants who, prior to accepting such award, are committed to at least four years of service as a youth mental health professional in an underserved school, and such award shall not exceed thirty thousand dollars per year and shall be made to applicants pursuant to the following schedule:
(i) thirty percent of the total award for the first year;
(ii) thirty percent for the second year; and
(iii) any unpaid balance of the total award not to exceed the maximum award amount for the third year.
(5) Recipients of such awards shall be eligible to apply for other awards established under this chapter.
c. Duration. Such award shall be made annually, for no more than four years, to applicants who remain eligible under this subdivision and who are certified as such by the corporation.
d. Amount. The corporation shall grant such awards within the amount appropriated for such purpose and based on availability of funds in an amount not to exceed the total cost of the completion of such degree programs. Cost of completion of such degrees shall include tuition at an institution of higher education approved or registered by the regents and other required or reasonable student fees.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to creating the school- based mental health loan repayment program
Purpose or general idea of bill
To establish a school-based mental health loan repayment program for mental health professionals working in schools with the ratios of students to professionals not meeting the recommendations set by the Department of Education.
Summary of provisions
Section 1: Legislative findings.
Section 2: Amends section 605 of the education law adding a new subdivi- sion 13 to establish the school-based mental health loan repayment program and establish eligibility for receiving an award under this section.
Section 3: Sets the effective date.
Justification
Across the United States, there is currently a shortage of school-based mental health professionals, and New York is not immune to this short- age. The New York State Board's Association indicates that twenty-nine percent of school superintendents in New York State said their school districts lack enough school psychologists to meet students' needs. This inadequacy has detrimental effects upon the mental health of our youth who are struggling with depression, feelings of persistent sadness, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts.
According to an April 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), youth who did not feel close to persons at school reported higher rates of the following: poor mental health during the last 30 days and during the pandemic, persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, and having seriously considered attempting, or having attempted, suicide. Ensuring that students have access to the proper mental health professionals is just one solution. If there is going to be progress in dealing with students' ongoing trauma, the state needs to take a public health approach to establish school-based professionals that are available to help.
In a recent report compiled by the Office of Mental Health and Office of Children and Family Services, youth offered recommendations including the need to increase mental health resources in schools by hiring addi- tional well-trained mental health providers and school psychologists. Nationally, It would take an estimated 77,000 more school counselors, 63,000 more school psychologists and probably tens of thousands of school social workers to reach levels recommended by professional groups before the pandemic hit.
The National Association of School Psychologists recommends one school psychologist per 500 students in order to provide comprehensive school psychological services. With the national average of one school psychol- ogist per 1,127 students, and variation throughout states, this bill aims to incentivise trained mental health providers and school psychol- ogists to enter and practice in a field that is currently facing attri- tion.
Access to mental health services throughout New York is not equitable; some counties experience greater shortages than others. In fact, 40 of New York's 62 counties are identified as a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area. In communities that are more greatly disadvantaged and face socio-economic disparities and hardships, these shortages have even more profound ramifications.
Offering school-based mental health professionals student loan forgive- ness during the duration of their tenure at these schools could help address the workforce shortage and help combat the public health crisis we are facing.
Legislative history
2024: S8350 Referred to Higher Education.
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.