Budget undercuts Trump focus on mental health, school safety

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is calling for a focus on mental health and school safety in response to shootings like the one that took 17 lives in Florida, but his budget would cut funding in both areas.

Trump’s latest budget would slash the major source of public funds for mental health treatment, the Medicaid program serving more than 70 million low-income and disabled people. The budget also calls for a 36 per cent cut to an Education Department grant program that supports safer schools, reducing it by $25 million from the current level of $67.5 million.

However, some smaller mental health programs would get an increase. The budget was issued Monday, before the horrific mass shooting at a South Florida high school.