Senate Bill 348 aims to enhance mental health training for school districts and independent charter schools in Wisconsin by adding social and emotional learning to the existing list of evidence-based strategies provided by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). Currently, DPI offers training on screening, brief intervention, referral to treatment, trauma-sensitive schools, and youth mental health first aid. The bill specifically creates a new statute, 115.28 (63) (d), to include social and emotional learning as a focus area for these trainings.

In addition to expanding the training curriculum, the bill allocates an additional $500,000 to DPI for each of the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years to support these initiatives. This funding is intended to enhance the capacity of schools to address student mental health effectively. The bill is set to take effect the day after publication or on the second day after the publication of the 2025 biennial budget act, whichever occurs later.