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A new Illinois law requiring annual mental health screening for public school students is drawing backlash from parents, policy experts and MPs, warning the policy that they can labeled children in borders and wrong ways.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed the measurement on 31 July, making Illinois the first state in the country, with 12 to mental health screening for students in grade three through 12.
2027-2028 The laws prescribed to be effective in the year, direct the schools to provide self-composed screening every year using digital or paper forms to schools. Parents will have the ability to get their children out.
Supporters say that the initiative will help schools identify early signs of depression, anxiety or trauma – before they develop in crisis. But critics argue that the plan can cause more problems than solving.
Abigail Shireer, a partner at the Manhattan Institute, said, “I want to be on-the-rekard and crystal clear. This is a devastating policy that will cause more harm to harm,” a partner of Manhattan Institute has written on X.
Katherine Boyle, a partner of Venture Capital firm Andresen Horovitz, also expressed concern about the government and called him “Mental Health Industrial Complex”.
Illinois village. JB Pritjkar signed a law required for mental health screening on 31 July 2025. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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“If a school nurse or a state-oriented mental health test tells you that you are ill, you are going to believe them,” Boyle wrote. “This is why so many families are completely exiting the primary school – the overache is surprising.”
Illinois education officials say the screening will not be clinical and will be designed to flagged students who may benefit from further evaluation. Illinois State Board of Education will develop screening tools and guidelines by September 2026, and the school districts will be responsible for implementing them.
State Superintendent Tony Sanders said in a statement, “Mental health is essential for academic readiness and lifetime success.” “Very often, we only recognize a student’s crisis when it becomes a crisis. With universal screening, we turn into prevention from response.”
Starting in the third grade, students in Illinois will perform a mental health screening each year. 6
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Dana Vener, the chief officer of the governor’s children’s behavior health change initiative, said that the screening would be optional for families and will be held privately.
State Sen Laura Fine, a Democrat and Bill’s lead sponsor, said the effort aims to normalize mental health care for children and adolescents. “Screening will be designed to catch an early signs of anxiety, depression, or trauma, before it becomes a crisis or in some cases, sometimes it is too late,” he said.
Republican MPs have also opposed in the state. Rape. Steve Reic (R) Woodstock warned that law could have unexpected results for families dealing with insurance companies.
A legalist from the state of Illinois warned, “Universal mental health screening we are not getting anything, which is probably finding things, in addition to finding reasons to deny insurance coverage,”. (Google Map)
“Universal mental health screening we are not getting anything, which is probably finding out of things, in addition to finding things of insurance, not getting anything other than finding the reasons for denying the coverage of insurance,” Rick said.
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Rape. Adam Neemarj (R Er Detich) called the law “a very dangerous piece of law that removes the rights of parents.”
Fox News arrived at Pritzkar’s office for digital comment and has not received any response yet.
