Gov. Pritzker signs bill requiring mental health screenings in all Illinois school districts
Illinois public schools will soon be required to give students annual mental health screenings under a new law just signed by Gov. JB Pritzker.
The bill, SB1560, requires all school districts to provide screening in grades 3 through 12 at least once a year, starting in the 2027-2028 school year. It also partners with psychiatric hospitals to inform patients about the state's BEACON (Behavioral Health Care and Ongoing Navigation) Portal as a pathway to care.
"We all struggle at some time in our lives — maybe multiple times in our lives — and just need a little bit of help, and especially our children," Pritzker said. "So we've got to overcome the stigma. We've got to make sure that we're screening kids."
The Illinois School Board must create guidelines for screening, and the state will pick up the cost.
Pritzker emphasized that mental health care is often overlooked and ignored, especially for children.
"Let me say to any young person who's listening — who is struggling or anxious and is not sure what to do — you are not alone. We support you. As isolating and overwhelming as mental health challenges can be, there is help out here," Pritzker said. "Your friends and your families are here for you. Your teachers and your administrators are here for you. We are here for you."
Pritzker signed the bill at Chute Middle School in Evanston, part of Evanston/Skokie Consolidated School District 65. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss said at the signing event that kids across the U.S. are experiencing a mental health crisis that must be addressed.
"This is a good day," Biss said. "This is a day that will be part of making sure that we identify at the earliest time possible mental health challenges experienced by youth across Illinois — making treatment possible, making access to treatment likely."
Biss introduced Abhinav Anne, a rising high school senior who has been an advocate for the issue of youth mental health. Anne described a period when he was struggling in silence.
"Earlier this year, I found myself sinking under the weight of expectations. I couldn't seem to escape. Everyone around me spoke about potential; about a bright future. But to me, those hopes felt like chains; like pressure on something already starting to crack. There were nights I couldn't sleep, haunted by thoughts of disappearing; by the idea that maybe the only way to escape the pain was to vanish altogether. I felt invisible, like the world would carry on without me," Anne said.
"But in the middle of that darkness, I began to write. I poured everything I didn't know how to say into words—words like the words I'm speaking today. But by sharing my story, it was never about knowing all the answers. It was about making sure that no one else had to face their struggles alone," Anne continued.
In 2022, the State of Illinois launched the Illinois Children's Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative — in a joint effort with policy and research analysts from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago — to strengthen behavioral health services for young people in Illinois.
The latest bill builds on that effort and previous legislation.