Group seeks probe into Illinois law requiring grades 3-12 mental health screenings

By Tate Miller | The Center Square contributor
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – A law firm is urging a federal investigation into a new Illinois law, arguing that the act that requires mental health screenings for all school children grades 3-12 violates the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, because it only includes communication with families about the screening and the option to opt-out instead of “affirmative parent consent.”

Policy director at American Principles Project Paul Dupont told The Center Square that Illinois’ law is “just the latest example of the continued erosion of parental rights in America’s public schools.”

“A healthy society would recognize that parents are the primary educators and caregivers for their children, and that schools merely play a supportive role,” Dupont said.

“But in recent years, government institutions have increasingly encroached on family matters, often on the unfounded assumption that parents might even be a danger to their own children,” Dupont said.

“That is the reason why so many school districts today have policies prohibiting parents from being informed if their child adopts a transgender identity,” Dupont said. “And it is also likely why Illinois has now instituted this policy of mental health screenings for students without affirmative parental consent.”

“These practices are fundamentally anti-family, and parents should oppose them,” Dupont said.

Senior Director of Communications at Defending Education Erika Sanzi emphasized to The Center Square that “requiring unlicensed people to screen asymptomatic children every year is wildly irresponsible government overreach.”

“This whole trend of schools tinkering in the minds of other people’s children needs to stop – it isn’t helping anyone and there is substantial evidence to suggest it’s actually causing harm,” Sanzi said.

Sanzi told The Center Square that if her children were attending these schools she’d “opt them out of this program in a hot second.”

America First Legal filed the federal complaint this week on behalf of Illinois families urging the U.S. Department of Education’s to investigate and correct the state’s new controversial law.

America First Legal (AFL) is a nonprofit law firm dedicated to defending “the rights of everyday Americans,” as stated on its website.

Illinois’ new law – Illinois’ Public Act 104-0032 – requires “annual mental health screenings for all students in grades 3-12 without first obtaining parental consent in direct violation of the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment,” AFL’s news release said.

“The Constitution does not permit government agencies to pry into the emotional lives of children under the guise of ‘mental health initiatives,” a news release from American Principles Project says.

When Illinois State Board of Education was asked why that state requires a mental health screening for grades 3-12 without parental consent and what its response to AFL’s call for an investigation is, press secretary Lindsay Record told The Center Square: “The screenings are voluntary for students and every parent has the opportunity to opt-out for their child as they see fit.”

In its letter to the Department of Education, AFL acknowledges that the law provides an opt-out from the “otherwise mandatory” mental health screenings, but argues that “that standard falls short of the [Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment’s] requirement of affirmative parental consent.”

“It unlawfully infringes on parental rights, and it undermines the fundamental right of parents to “direct the upbringing and education of children under their control,” the letter says.

The law’s wording, itself, does not mention affirmative parental consent, stating the following: “The implementation of mental health screenings shall include, but are not limited to, the option to opt-out, confidentiality and privacy considerations, communication with families and communities about the use of mental health screenings, data sharing, and storage of mental health screening results and plans for follow-up and linkage to resources after screenings.”

When contacted twice via a website media request form, America First Legal did not respond.

American Principles Project’s Paul Dupont told The Center Square that “the family is the foundational institution of society; it is where each generation is formed.”

“Healthy societies are built on strong families, since children do best when they are raised by loving parents,” Dupont said.

“This is why parental rights are so important: the government must respect the primary role of parents in the upbringing of their children and avoid interfering except in extraordinary circumstances,” Dupont said.

“Fortunately, the vast majority of Americans still recognize this, even if the radical left does not,” Dupont said.

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights was unable to respond due to the government shutdown.