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HEALTHCARE
COVERAGE

State Allots Millions for School Safety,

Mental Health after Uvalde Shooting

By Emma Freer
Q UICKLY FOLLOWING a series of legislative hearings

to address the Uvalde shooting, Texas leaders have an-
nounced the transfer of more than $105.5 million within
the state budget to fund a series of school safety and mental health pro-
grams through August 2023.
The move heeds several recommendations from the Texas Medical
Association and several state specialty societies. In a statement from
the governor’s office quoting several state leaders, Speaker Dade Phelan
(R-Beaumont) said lawmakers will consider these recommendations
and other outstanding proposals during the interim period and TMA and seven state specialty societies called for a multipronged
throughout the upcoming legislative session, which begins in January. approach to strengthen the state’s health and social services, including
House Appropriations Chair Rep. Greg Bonnen, MD (R- the statewide expansion of TCHATT, in written testimony submitted
Friendswood), commended the funding push, which stems from the to the Senate’s Special Committee to Protect All Texans on June 22.
school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24. TMA welcomes the investment in TCHATT. Meanwhile, state leaders
“[T]his commitment will ensure additional telehealth services are continue to evaluate a series of other proposals by TMA and the other
quickly available to more school-aged children both within the Uvalde organizations, including to:
community and across the state,” he said in the governor’s statement. • Establish Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program pay-
Drawing mostly on surplus funds in the Texas Education Agency ment for physicians and health care providers who screen patients
budget, state leaders allocated: for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs);
• $50 million for bulletproof shields for local law enforcement; • Set a Medicaid policy framework to better integrate clinical and com-
• $17.1 million for school districts to purchase silent panic alert tech- munity services designed to address nonmedical drivers of health;
nology; • Expand crisis intervention and trauma-informed training among
• $10 million for rapid response training and associated travel costs for health professionals, school and community leaders, and families;
local law enforcement, including school resource officers; • Increase outpatient and inpatient mental health hospital capacity for
• $7 million for the Texas School Safety Center to provide training, children and adolescents; and
assessments, and support to school districts as they review their emer- • Widen Texas’ statewide Safe Gun Storage Campaign.
gency operations plans and address campus security needs;
• $5.8 million to expand the Texas Child Health Access Through “We know as physicians that positive experiences in childhood –
Telemedicine (TCHATT) program, which provides telemedicine specifically safe, secure, nurturing relationships with trusted adults,
services to schools to identify, assess, and treat students with behav- such as teachers, extended family members, parents, [and] counselors
ioral and mental health needs; – we actually know that those types of relationships can negate the
• $5 million to expand fusion centers, which could help facilitate data- toxic effect of ACEs. And that’s a powerful thing,” Lubbock pediatri-
sharing among local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to cian Celeste Caballero, MD, testified on behalf of TMA and the other
identify threats to school districts; organizations during the special committee hearings.
• $5 million to evaluate mental health services in Uvalde and prepare
a needs assessment for the legislature; Emma Freer is a reporter for Texas Medicine. She previously
• $4.7 million to increase the number of Multisystemic Therapy teams, worked in local news, covering city politics, economic develop-
which have been proven to reduce the risk of violence; and ment, and public health.

• $950,000 to expand Coordinated Specialty Care Teams, which treat
Copyright Texas Medical Association. Reprinted with permission from Texas Medicine
youth experiencing their first episode of psychosis. Today.

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