Late last week, the Biden administration released its discretionary funding request, providing a preliminary outline of roughly $1.5 trillion in spending for fiscal year (FY) 2022.
There were some important themes to note in the President’s budget request:
K-12 Education – Recommends increasing Title I funding from $16.5 billion to $36.5 billion. There is also focus on behavioral health in schools. It recommends increasing the Full Service Community Schools program from $30 million to $443 million.
Early Childhood Education – Discusses raising wages for early educators and family child care providers.
Child Welfare – Recommends creating a new competitive grant program for states/localities to advance reforms to reduce overrepresentation of people of color in child welfare.
Behavioral Health – Doubles community mental health block grant funding and increases substance use disorder treatment dollars by $3.9 billion. Targets funds toward ending maternal mortality.
Economic Mobility – Proposes investments in workforce development and registered apprenticeships. Proposes significant funding for community development block grants, housing choice vouchers, homeless assistance grants, the HOME program, and more.