At least 14 states have passed laws that explicitly allow students to take excused absences for mental or behavioral health reasons. The movement picked up speed after Oregon became the first state to pass such a law in 2019, and several more states followed between 2020 and 2022. If you’re a student or parent wondering whether your state is on the list, here’s the full breakdown.
States With Mental Health Day Laws
Each state’s law works a little differently. Some set a specific number of allowed days, some leave it open-ended, and some let individual school districts decide the details. Here’s what’s on the books:
- Oregon (2019): Students can take up to five excused absences within any three-month period, covering both physical illness and mental health.
- Virginia (2019): Mental health counts as a valid excuse for absence under a bill passed by the general assembly.
- Colorado (2020): School districts are required to include behavioral health concerns as a category in their excused absence policies.
- Maine (2020): Students can take days off for mental and behavioral health reasons as excused absences.
- Arizona (2021): Mental health days are treated like sick days, though exact policies can vary by district.
- Connecticut (2021): Students get two mental health wellness days per year, as long as they aren’t taken on consecutive days.
- Nevada (2021): Students ages 7 to 18 can miss school for mental health reasons, but a note from a mental or behavioral health professional is required.
- Utah (2021): Mental or behavioral health is a valid reason for an excused absence for all students.
- California (2021): Students can miss school for mental or behavioral health concerns, and those absences are treated the same as any other sick day.
- Illinois (2022): Students get up to five mental health days per year. No doctor’s note is required, but students or parents must state they’re using a mental health absence when they call in.
- Kentucky (2022): Local school boards may include mental or behavioral health as a valid excused absence in their attendance policies.
- Maryland (2022): A student’s absence due to mental health needs is treated as a lawful absence. The law specifically prohibits school boards from requiring a physician’s note. Minors need permission from a parent or guardian.
- Washington (2022): Mental or behavioral health qualifies as a valid excuse. The law does not impose any limit on the number of mental health absences, though individual schools and districts may intervene if absences become excessive.
Delaware takes a slightly different approach: rather than a statewide mandate, each school district and charter school determines its own maximum number of mental health days.
How Many Days You Can Take
This varies widely. Illinois and Oregon are the most specific, each capping mental health absences at five. Connecticut allows two per year with the restriction that they can’t be back-to-back. Washington has no legal cap at all, leaving it to districts to flag patterns of excessive absence.
Most other states don’t set a hard number. Instead, they simply add mental health to the list of valid reasons for an excused absence, meaning the same general attendance rules apply. If your school allows a certain number of excused absences per semester before triggering a review, mental health days count within that total.
Whether You Need a Doctor’s Note
One of the biggest practical questions is whether you need documentation. The answer depends on where you live, and the differences are significant.
Illinois explicitly states that no doctor’s note is needed. Maryland’s law goes a step further, prohibiting school boards from requiring a physician’s note for mental health absences. Washington’s law is similarly straightforward, with no documentation mandate built in.
Nevada is the outlier. Students there need a note from a mental or behavioral health professional to have their absence excused. This is a real barrier, since not every family has easy access to a therapist or counselor.
In states where the law is silent on documentation, individual districts often set their own requirements. It’s worth checking your school’s attendance handbook or calling the front office to find out what they expect.
What These Laws Don’t Cover
Mental health day laws are about attendance policy, not treatment. None of the state laws reviewed here require schools to provide counseling, schedule a check-in with a school psychologist, or make a referral to a mental health professional after a student uses a mental health day. The days are designed to remove the penalty for missing school when you’re struggling, not to connect you with care.
That said, most schools do have counselors or social workers on staff. If you’re using mental health days frequently, reaching out to your school’s counseling office can help you access support that goes beyond a day off.
States Without Specific Laws
If your state isn’t on the list, that doesn’t necessarily mean a mental health day will count against you. Many school districts across the country have their own policies that treat mental health similarly to physical illness for attendance purposes. The difference is that without a state law, these policies aren’t guaranteed and can vary from one district to the next, or even from one school to another.
In states without legislation, the typical path is to have a parent call in and describe the absence as illness-related. Some districts accept this without question. Others may ask for a doctor’s note after a certain number of absences, which puts families in a tougher position if the issue is anxiety or burnout rather than something a pediatrician would typically document.
The trend is clearly moving toward more states adopting these laws. Between 2019 and 2022, the number jumped from one state to more than a dozen. If your state hasn’t passed a law yet, checking your district’s student handbook is the best way to understand what protections currently exist where you live.