The bill H.817, which was vetoed by the Governor, aimed to enhance mental health literacy and support within educational settings. It proposed that the Department of Mental Health, in collaboration with the Agency of Education, oversee the implementation of mental health literacy training programs for educators and school personnel, as well as peer-to-peer mental health programming in supervised school and afterschool environments. Additionally, the bill sought to direct these agencies to identify potential funding sources for these initiatives as part of the fiscal year 2028 budget presentation to the General Assembly.

Furthermore, the bill mandated that by January 15, 2027, the Department and the Agency submit an inventory of existing mental health programming and services in schools to the General Assembly. This inventory was to include recommendations for integrating mental health literacy training and peer-to-peer programming into the current mental health services offered in schools. The bill included a new legal insertion clarifying that the summary provided is not intended to aid in the interpretation of legislation or serve as a source of legislative intent.