Pritzker signs bill to implement mental health screenings in schools
[August 01, 2025]
By Ben Szalinski
Illinois public school students could soon receive free mental health
screenings each year.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1560 Thursday, which would require
the State Board of Education and a children’s behavioral health team
within the governor’s office to develop procedures and make mental
health materials available to school districts. The board will provide
those materials to schools beginning in September 2026.
The tests would be provided to schools at no cost beginning in the
2027-28 school year, so long as the state has approved funding to
develop screenings. Parents would be able to opt their children out of
the screenings, which would be made available once a year to students in
third grade through high school.
“This is a national first that’s worth celebrating about the state of
Illinois,” Pritzker said at a news conference Thursday at an Evanston
middle school.
The bill was approved by the Senate 52-0 but passed on a partisan 72-36
vote in the House.
Pritzker said it’s important to overcome the stigma around getting help
for mental health issues and to treat mental health as a priority, like
physical health. Illinois schools already offer screenings for vision
and hearing problems and require students to have physical checkups with
their pediatrician.
“We know how transformational these screenings can be for kids at this
age,” Pritzker said. “They provide early identification and intervention
so those who are struggling get the help that they need as soon as
possible. They improve academic and social outcomes. They help us break
down the stigma that too often is a barrier to seeking help.”
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Students are pictured in a file photo working on laptops at Lanphier
High School in Springfield. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Andrew
Campbell)
State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders said mental health issues
are one of the leading causes of hospitalization for children and
teenagers and schools can play a role in preventing problems from
reaching a point that requires more extreme intervention.
“Too often we recognize a student’s distress when it becomes a crisis,
when they begin failing classes, when they begin withdrawing from peers
or experiencing harm,” Sanders said. “Too often, we only recognize a
student’s distress when it’s too late.”
The new policy would allow schools to focus on preventing mental health
issues rather than only implementing plans that react to a student’s
problem.
House Republicans opposed the bill, arguing it won’t be as effective as
the governor believes and that it creates confidentiality problems.
“Universal mental health screenings are going to get us nothing except
possibly finding things, finding reasons for denial of coverage of
insurance,” Rep. Steve Reick, R-Woodstock, told reporters at a news
conference Thursday.
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