119th (2025–2027)
H.R. 2739
The "Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act" would redirect all federal funding currently used to place police officers in schools toward mental health professionals like counselors, social workers, and psychologists instead. The bill prohibits federal grants—including funding from police programs like COPS on the Beat and the Edward Byrne program—from being used to hire or maintain school police, and creates a new competitive grant program to help school districts that eliminate police contracts transition to trauma-informed support services. Priority would be given to districts serving low-income students and those with community oversight, and schools receiving grants cannot use the funds for police partnerships, surveillance equipment, or armed personnel. Grant recipients must annually report on arrest rates, discipline disparities by race and disability, and use of surveillance technology. The bill authorizes $5 billion for the new grant program.