A billion dollars. That’s the amount being stripped from our nation’s schools in the latest round of budget cuts by the Trump administration — funding that was specifically intended to address the youth mental health crisis in our country. That number is staggering, but let me tell you what it really means: in Crystal Lake District 47, one of the grant recipients poised to lose its funding, it means children won’t get the mental health support they desperately need.
Our community was one of many across the country counting on this funding to expand mental health programs in schools through a grant known as Project LAKE—Learning Acceptance through Kindness for Everyone. It’s a comprehensive, evidence-based program aimed at transforming the way mental health is addressed in our schools. With this grant, Crystal Lake Elementary District 47 hired 11 therapists, significantly boosting capacity across 12 schools and serving more than 7,100 students. That’s 7,100 children who now face the prospect of going without essential mental health support in the classroom.
Make no mistake: We are in the midst of a national youth mental health emergency. The U.S. Surgeon General has declared it so, and the data backs him up. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1 in 3 high school students reported experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2021—a nearly 40% increase from a decade earlier. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for young people ages 10 to 24.
In McHenry County, we’ve seen this crisis unfold up close. Families are waiting months for appointments. School counselors are stretched thin, sometimes managing caseloads of 500 students or more. Teachers and administrators are overwhelmed and under-resourced, left to manage escalating behavioral health needs without the training or personnel to do so effectively. Project LAKE was a lifeline—a model that other districts could replicate, rooted in collaboration with other local and statewide providers to embed sustainable, compassionate mental health practices into the fabric of school life.
Now, with the stroke of a pen in Washington, that lifeline has been cut.
The cruelty of this decision lies not only in its disregard for mental health, but in its timing. Students are still reeling from the academic, social, and emotional disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rates of anxiety and depression have soared. And while our educators have worked valiantly to support their students, they need help—professional, trained mental health providers who can be there every day, in every building.
Mental health doesn’t wait. It doesn’t pause while political leaders debate budgets. When a child is hurting, every moment without care is a risk. Every missed opportunity to intervene early is a chance for things to get worse—leading to higher rates of absenteeism, school dropouts, hospitalizations, and even suicide.
As the executive director of NAMI McHenry County, I speak with families every day who are watching their children struggle. I speak with students who are fighting invisible battles, teachers who are burning out, and administrators who are desperate for solutions. Project LAKE was not just a grant. It was hope.
What’s happening now is not just a policy failure—it’s a moral one. Investing in youth mental health should never be up for debate. The cost of inaction is too high, both in human and economic terms. According to the NAMI National, untreated mental illness costs the U.S. over $100 billion annually in lost productivity, health care, and law enforcement. Every dollar spent on school-based mental health programs yields up to $10 in economic returns by improving educational outcomes and reducing costly interventions down the road.
This cut isn’t saving money. It’s shifting the cost—to families, to communities, and to the future.
We urge our federal leaders to reconsider this reckless decision and restore full funding to the School-Based Mental Health Services program. Let’s be clear: this isn’t about politics. It’s about people—children—who need support now. If we’re serious about tackling the youth mental health crisis, we need more programs like Project LAKE, not fewer.
If you’d like to make your voice heard and help save District 47’s funding, consider joining NAMI for a letter writing event on from 4 to 6 p.m. May 29 at the Community Foundation’s Philanthropy Center, 33 E. Woodstock St, Crystal Lake. Our voices are stronger together.
Washington may feel far away, but its decisions are felt deeply in our own community. They ripple through classrooms, dinner tables, emergency rooms, and funeral homes. Cuts made in Congress have consequences in our communities. We cannot afford to keep learning that the hard way.
It’s time we demand better. Our kids deserve nothing less.
Abbey Nicholas is executive director of NAMI McHenry County, the National Alliance on Mental Illness.