Indiana schools are implementing social-emotional and mental health programs despite legislative setbacks and funding uncertainties. Indiana schools saw a 41% increase in bullying incidents from 2023 to 2024, according to the Indiana Youth Institute. However, Indiana lawmakers left several bills addressing student mental health, bullying, and counselor shortages on the table this year, and dropped requirements related to social emotional learning in teacher training.
Legislative Challenges
Three bills championed by the Parent Coalition for Child Safety and Wellness failed to advance, including proposals to change the definition of bullying to include isolated incidents and require more tracking and reporting. Other failed proposals sought to increase the time counselors can spend with students or relieve them of non-counseling duties. Indiana already has much higher student-to-counselor ratios than recommended. A bill allowing chaplains to serve as public school counselors also failed to pass. In April, the Trump administration announced an end to federal grants that supported mental health professionals, creating additional uncertainty for schools relying on such funding.
School-Based Solutions
One of the few provisions that passed requires schools to make a “reasonable attempt” to notify parents within one school day that the school is investigating a bullying incident, and to report the investigation’s conclusion before the end of the next school day—faster than the current five-day timeline. North Lawrence Community Schools has trained all staff since 2018 in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), a framework providing a common language for understanding student emotional states. In Indianapolis, 13 schools use the Building Dreams platform, which allows students to report their mood via morning check-ins using emoji choices. Educators at recent panels noted that regular check-ins reduced negative behavior and helped students learn to articulate and cope with feelings.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025/06/20/schools-pursue-social-emotional-and-mental-health-programs-for-students/