Half of Texas schools have no mental health services

After the 2018 killing of eight students and two teachers at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, Governor Greg Abbott called for mental health resources in schools. I vowed to find a solution to the shortage. 

"Praying for the victims and their families is not enough," said the governor of Texas. 

Four years later, shortly after another deadly school shooting in Texas, a CBS News survey found that most of the state's public schools had mental health issues for their students. Turns out it doesn't provide direct access to the service.

"Students, no one was listening to us," said a gunman who ran out of his sophomore art class at Santa Fe High School four years ago when a gunman opened fire. he said Zach Muehe. "I believe mental health issues are at the root of everything. It's never talked about and I don't know why." 14}

School shooting survivors have warned for years about the lack of mental health services for students, but their concerns are often ignored. 

Data from the Texas Education Authority (TEA), he analyzed by CBS News, show that 593 school districts in Texas do not have a school psychologist and telemedicine option is not provided. More than 500,000 Texas children have lost access to mental health services in schools.  

This includes the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (CISD), which does not have a school psychologist on staff, he said, according to an analysis of CBS News. grieving districts were also not enrolled in the statewide telemedicine mental health program established in the wake of the Santa Fe High School shooting. 

The suspect in the Santa Fe shooting, he was a 17-year-old student,was found to be mentally ill and was not brought to trial.   

After Santa Fe, Texas officials approved nearly $100 million to increase child mental health services statewide . Among the initiatives was a telemedicine program called Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT).  

Currently in nearly 400 school districts statewide, TCHATT connects struggling students with licensed school psychologists via live video calls. 

Dr. David Lakey, chief medical officer of the University of Texas System, said TCHATT has helped more than 12,000 of his students receive counseling through the program. 

"One reason he thinks it's going well is because he asked his parents, 'How's it going?'" Lakey said. “And when we do that kind of analysis, we get overwhelming feedback that parents and children are happy and believe they have improved significantly because of that TCHATT service.” 187}

But Lakey acknowledged that telemedicine programs still have a long way to go. 

His CBS News analysis of TCHATT and Texas Department of Education data showed that TCHATT was in 417 Texas school districts this school year, covering about 59% of the student population. will be 

Yet more than 800 districts, including Uvalde CISD, are unable to access TCHATT. 

If he If the TCHATT program was flagged by Uvalde's gunman, Lakey said. I think it would have been a much less likely situation for that individual to do what he did had he tied him to the service he needed. "

The challenge of getting him a TCHATT program in every Texas school is not due to lack of funding. Millions of dollars budgeted for the program were not spent in his first two years. 

Mr. Lakey said one of his challenges was getting the school involved. Some are hesitant about the new program. Another challenge he faces is finding enough mental health professionals. 

"We have huge challenges related to the mental health workforce in Texas, so one of the barriers our agency has is that we can't serve everyone." It's about hiring the people you need to provide the schools across Texas," Lakey explained. 

To work as a school psychologist in Texas, you need a special license that proves your training in school psychology. School psychologists are different from guidance counselors who do not need to have formal psychology training. 

The National Association of School Psychologists recommends that schools have at least one psychologist for every 500 to 700 of her students, but Texas Most of the students attend the district at a much higher rate. An average of 1,200 students, according to a CBS News analysis. 

Few schools in Texas employ enough psychologists, he found, CBS News. Of her more than 1,200 districts statewide, only 39 meet this recommended ratio. These school districts serve her less than 1% of all Texas students.

About 5,600 more psychologists will need to be hired for the rest of Texas' schools to meet that minimum standard. Texas has an incentive program to lure people into mental health professions, but it has yet to close the gap. 

It's not just Texas. His May report by the National Center for Education Statistics found that only about half of public schools nationwide said they could effectively provide mental health services to their students. 

The data showed that only about 50% of all public schools offered mental health assessment services, and just over 40% offered mental health treatment. In rural areas these rates were even lower. 

According to Lakey, finding sufficient numbers of mental health professionals to work in rural areas like Uvalde is particularly difficult, where the need is greatest. many. 

"I took the point to the legislature," Lakey said. "They give me buckets of money, but if I can't hire enough people to provide these services, I can't spend the money." 

Sanger ISD, about 60 miles north of Dallas, is one of 39 districts that meet the recommended ratios for mental health professionals. 

Faced with funding challenges similar to most schools in Texas, this small rural neighborhood used community partnerships and creativity to address the mental health needs of its students. I've been working on it. 

"Mental health It's a priority for this community and the district," said Ann Hughes, Director of Student Emotional Behavior and Student Interventions at Sanger ISD. "We teach behavior the way others teach math. We don't give up when someone has a behavior problem. We get to the root of it." 

To avoid funding shortfalls in the state, the Sanger ISD is partnering with churches, charities and cities to fill gaps in student services.
Hughes has also applied for and received grants to help fund mental health. 

But what sets the school district apart is what it did with the money. 

Her three schools at Sanger ISD have dedicated 'exercise rooms' and 'chill rooms' where students learn how to manage their emotions.   

There is a free grocery store inside Linda Tutt High School, where the most struggling children are sent.

Not only does this store meet the needs of many of these students, it also gives them a sense of purpose because it is run by students.

"It's about contributing," explained Hughes.  “Perhaps someone has needs similar to yours, or someone has greater needs, so there is a connection.”

For all behavioral programs, the Sanger ISD Data is collected so the district can understand what works and what doesn't.

But success is more than just numbers.

"If it wasn't for Anne, I probably wouldn't be here," said Preston Westbrook, 18, a former Linda Tutt High School student.

Westbrook enters high school By then, he said, he had moved through his 26 foster homes. In a dozen homes, Westbrook was abused, he said, both mentally and physically.

Westbrook had a serious anger problem when he entered Linda Tutt High School. He often escaped to the roof of the school.

"When I was mad," he said, "this is how I got away from people." “I ripped a door hinge off when I was nine. I think.”

“He is one of our true success stories,” says Hughes.

Hughes also said she was frustrated by the lack of state-specific funding for mental health, but said schools shouldn't allow it.

"The energy I carry in the air, use it to take small steps.