The United States is going through a well-documented and ongoing youth mental health crisis, with high rates of suicidal ideation, hopelessness and depression. Mental health conditions typically start during childhood, adolescence or young adulthood. More than 1 in 7 U.S. youth ages 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year. When mental health conditions are treated early, it can save lives and vastly improve outcomes for individuals. Mental health education in schools can be a proactive solution to this crisis.
Many students learn about general health issues in health education programs, but those curricula have not always traditionally included mental health. More recently, there has been momentum behind the availability of curricula focused on mental health, which can increase students’ awareness of the signs of mental health conditions in themselves or others and how to seek help.
As of 2025, 19 states and DC have a mental health education requirement in schools for grades K-12. NAMI’s School Mental Health Education Map provides a state landscape of mental health education requirements in schools.
*Note: If your state is listed as “data not available”, please check the “Supporting Policies” tab for more information to see what your state has done so far. If you believe something is missing, please reach out to NAMI National’s state affairs team.
This map highlights states where mental health education is required for all K-12 grades, required for certain grade levels, or encouraged but not mandated. Each state’s designation reflects the governing policy, whether set by state law (legislation/statute), regulation, or curriculum standards/framework, as noted in the accompanying details.
This chart includes a listing of all 50 states and DC and their current status, and a summary on the mental health education policy type. States are in alphabetical order on each tab. The “Supporting Policies” tab provides information on measures that supported these policies in their states. This can include updating standards, requirement parameters, or teacher/student mental health trainings.
*Acknowledgement: NAMI’s School Mental Health Education Map was created in collaboration with the Mental Health Literacy Collaborative.
More than a dozen states have enacted legislation that would allow mental health as an excused absence from school. NAMI supports public policies and laws that recognize mental health as an acceptable reason for absence from school. Read more about NAMI’s position here.
NAMI HelpLine is available M-F, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. ET. Call 800-950-6264,
text “NAMI” to 62640, or email. In a crisis, call or text 988 (24/7).
