Group seeks probe into Illinois law requiring grades 3-12 mental health
screenings
[November 06, 2025]
By Tate Miller | The Center Square contributor
(The Center Square) – A law firm is urging a federal investigation into
a new Illinois law, arguing that the act that requires mental health
screenings for all school children grades 3-12 violates the Protection
of Pupil Rights Amendment, because it only includes communication with
families about the screening and the option to opt-out instead of
“affirmative parent consent.”
Policy director at American Principles Project Paul Dupont told The
Center Square that Illinois’ law is “just the latest example of the
continued erosion of parental rights in America's public schools.”
“A healthy society would recognize that parents are the primary
educators and caregivers for their children, and that schools merely
play a supportive role,” Dupont said.
“But in recent years, government institutions have increasingly
encroached on family matters, often on the unfounded assumption that
parents might even be a danger to their own children,” Dupont said.
“That is the reason why so many school districts today have policies
prohibiting parents from being informed if their child adopts a
transgender identity,” Dupont said. “And it is also likely why Illinois
has now instituted this policy of mental health screenings for students
without affirmative parental consent.”
“These practices are fundamentally anti-family, and parents should
oppose them,” Dupont said.
Senior Director of Communications at Defending Education Erika Sanzi
emphasized to The Center Square that “requiring unlicensed people to
screen asymptomatic children every year is wildly irresponsible
government overreach.”
“This whole trend of schools tinkering in the minds of other people's
children needs to stop – it isn't helping anyone and there is
substantial evidence to suggest it's actually causing harm,” Sanzi said.
Sanzi told The Center Square that if her children were attending these
schools she’d “opt them out of this program in a hot second."
America First Legal filed the federal complaint this week on behalf of
Illinois families urging the U.S. Department of Education’s to
investigate and correct the state’s new controversial law.
America First Legal (AFL) is a nonprofit law firm dedicated to defending
“the rights of everyday Americans,” as stated on its website.
Illinois’ new law – Illinois’ Public Act 104-0032 – requires “annual
mental health screenings for all students in grades 3-12 without first
obtaining parental consent in direct violation of the Protection of
Pupil Rights Amendment,” AFL’s news release said.
“The Constitution does not permit government agencies to pry into the
emotional lives of children under the guise of ‘mental health
initiatives,” a news release from American Principles Project says.
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A statue of Stephen A. Douglas stands in front of the Illinois State
Capitol building in Springfield. Photo: Greg Bishop / The Center
Square
When Illinois State Board of Education was asked why that state
requires a mental health screening for grades 3-12 without parental
consent and what its response to AFL's call for an investigation is,
press secretary Lindsay Record told The Center Square: “The
screenings are voluntary for students and every parent has the
opportunity to opt-out for their child as they see fit.”
In its letter to the Department of Education, AFL acknowledges that
the law provides an opt-out from the “otherwise mandatory” mental
health screenings, but argues that “that standard falls short of the
[Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment’s] requirement of affirmative
parental consent.”
“It unlawfully infringes on parental rights, and it undermines the
fundamental right of parents to “direct the upbringing and education
of children under their control,” the letter says.
The law’s wording, itself, does not mention affirmative parental
consent, stating the following: “The implementation of mental health
screenings shall include, but are not limited to, the option to
opt-out, confidentiality and privacy considerations, communication
with families and communities about the use of mental health
screenings, data sharing, and storage of mental health screening
results and plans for follow-up and linkage to resources after
screenings.”
When contacted twice via a website media request form, America First
Legal did not respond.
American Principles Project’s Paul Dupont told The Center Square
that “the family is the foundational institution of society; it is
where each generation is formed.”
“Healthy societies are built on strong families, since children do
best when they are raised by loving parents,” Dupont said.
“This is why parental rights are so important: the government must
respect the primary role of parents in the upbringing of their
children and avoid interfering except in extraordinary
circumstances,” Dupont said.
“Fortunately, the vast majority of Americans still recognize this,
even if the radical left does not,” Dupont said.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights was unable to
respond due to the government shutdown.
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