Funding to support school safety, mental health

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -A federal agency will provide more than $2.3 million to two Kentucky organizations to support school safety and mental health, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell said.

The Department of Health and Human Services is awarding more than $2 million to the Kentucky Educational Development Finance Corporation in Ashland and $250,000 to Seven Counties Services Inc., based in Louisville, the senator announced Thursday. Both grants will fund mental health support and early intervention programs in Kentucky schools.

Funding for the grants comes from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which McConnell — as the Senate’s top-ranking Republican — helped lead to Senate passage last year.

McConnell said the funding will provide “much-needed mental health infrastructure in our schools.”

“The American people do not have to choose between safer schools and the Constitution, and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act proves it,” McConnell said. “This bill increases school safety, helps troubled kids and protects Kentucky’s teachers and students.”

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