Religious Contacts, Student Volunteers Find Themselves in Midst of Mental Health Crisis

(Illustration/Je’Leah Laurenceau)
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A 12-year-old killed herself at a Spokane hospital that recently closed its youth psychiatric unit

Asha Joseph spoke at her 12-year-old sister's funeral on Tuesday. Sarah Niyimbona had been receiving psychiatric treatment at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center intermittently for eight months when she died by suicide at the hospital. Erick Doxey/InvestigateWest

Language lives on for tribes in Oklahoma despite determined erasure attempts

Martie Woothtakewahbitty teaches her students how to speak the Comanche language in a classroom at the Life Ready Center in Lawton on September 26, 2024.
Abigail Siatkowski
/KOSU

Youth mental health services expand in San Antonio and statewide

Five children walk together on a sunny day. They each have backpacks, probably leaving school.
©Norma Mortenson

Texas Public Radio: The Source by Bonnie Petrie, September 14, 2022: In a unanimous decision earlier this month, the San Antonio City Council voted to create a framework to increase mental health care access across the city. The city will utilize $23 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. How will the funds be disbursed? What age groups will the city focus its efforts on?

Later on The Source, young Texans can access mental health services through Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT).

During the pandemic, some students experienced poor mental health such as anxiety and depression due to loneliness and isolation. Greater access for youth mental health services has been a goal long before the pandemic’s onset.

In 2019, the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium was created after Senate Bill 10 passed in the 86th Texas Legislature. Its purpose is to improve mental health and mental health care systems for children and adolescents.

What are the plans from the local government to help those in need of mental health services? How will the program continue to be financed after ARPA funds run out?

What should representatives focus on in the next legislative session to help improve youth mental health care? What gaps exist in Texas legislation when it comes to youth access to mental health services?

What signs should we look for in children to assess their mental health? What should parents be aware of? How can a parent or child in need of services find access?

Guests:

  • Melissa Cabello Havrda, San Antonio City Council Representative for District 6, chair of the Public Safety Committee
  • Dr. Laurel Williams, D.O., professor of psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, medical director of the Centralized Operation Support Hub, which supports the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium
  • Reena Pardiwala, PA-C, clinical director of the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine at UT Health San Antonio
  • Josette Saxton, director of Mental Health Policy at Texans Care for Children

Listen to the TPR: The Source piece here.