DROPPED FUNDING JEOPARDIZES K-12 MENTAL HEALTH
SYNOPSIS:
Discontinued federal funding for K-12 mental health services will directly jeopardize students in central and rural Oregon where such services may be limited or difficult to access.
Published May 27, 2025
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In May, the U.S. Department of Education informed Oregon State University that grant funding for the Promoting and Advancing Training of High Desert School Counselors (PATH-SC) program was being discontinued effective December 31, 2025. The federal government cited that the grant provides funding for programs that reflect the prior Administration’s priorities and policy preferences and conflict with those of the current administration.
Since the beginning of the year, across the nation the federal government has discontinued approximately $1 billion in federal grants aimed at supporting school-based mental health services.
PATH-SC, which began in 2023, was designed to increase the number and diversity of qualified school counselors in high-needs and rural K-12 schools by providing financial support for participants and intentional relationship-building and mentoring throughout the program.
As with teachers, Oregon is in dire need of school counselors across the state but especially in rural communities.
In many cases, the free services provided by school counselors may be the first or only point of contact rural families have with professional mental health services. However, a shrinking pipeline of new school counselors means Oregon school districts are facing student-to-counselor ratios as high as 540:1 and school counselor retention rates as low as 12%.
“The Path-SC grant didn’t just open the door for me to graduate education through funding, it empowered me to pursue a profession that’s making a difference in our community by increasing access to qualified school counselors who are addressing critical mental health needs,” said one Master’s of Counseling student and a PATH-SC intern who is currently working in a rural school on an emergency counseling license.
The PATH-SC program was designed to specifically reach high-need schools in the Jefferson County, Crook County, Redmond and Bend-La Pine school districts, and in partnership with the High Desert Educational Service District. These Central Oregon districts serve approximately 32,000 students with free and reduced lunch rates ranging from 36% to 95%, demonstrating high need.
You never hear about the crisis that doesn't happen... School counselors play a vital role on the front lines of education, working closely with students and families to nurture the skills and supports that protect young people from future challenges..."
Dr. Lucy Purgason, Associate Professor in School Counseling
"You never hear about the crisis that doesn't happen,” said Dr. Lucy Purgason, an associate professor at OSU-Cascades in the school counseling program and PATH-SC co-director. “School counselors play a vital role on the front lines of education, working closely with students and families to nurture the skills and supports that protect young people from future challenges. Decades of research show that when students have access to strong protective factors — like trusted relationships, coping skills and a supportive environment — they are better equipped for lifelong health and well-being. PATH-SC was increasing the support provided to students, often in the most rural and high needs areas of our partnership districts.”
In 2023, the program’s first year, PATH-SC increased access to mental health services with school counseling graduate students providing support to more than 1,500 K-12 students. In some participating districts, the program decreased average student to counselor ratios from 270:1 to 160:1. Prior to its discontinuation, PATH-SC was on track to provide 65 trained school counselors to address and deliver mental health prevention programs and intervention for rural and high needs schools.
“The loss of grant funding for our counseling students and the Central Oregon community is devastating. At least 26 students will lose their scholarships and a monthly living stipend that helps to offset the cost of commuting to internship placements. Without this critical financial support, some will be unable to continue their education, jeopardizing the essential mental health services they would have gone on to provide in high-needs schools, creating a ripple effect that could impact thousands of young lives,” said Dr. Molly Moran, an assistant professor at OSU-Cascades in the School Counseling Program and PATH-SC co-director.
In early May, Drs. Moran and Purgason were awarded the College of Education’s Community Outreach and Engagement Award for their outstanding work with the PATH-SC program.
For Angie Chown, the school counselor at Sage Elementary School in Redmond, Oregon, every day is a chance to redefine the profession.
Oregon State University-Cascades (OSU-C) has partnered with the central Oregon school districts to train urgently needed school counselors for K-12 schools.
From the New York Times: Congress authorized the money in a bipartisan breakthrough around addressing gun violence after a shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas, killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers.