Responding to cases of abuse and even death in Texas' residential treatment centers — some the result of staffers physically restraining kids with emotional disabilities — a mental health organization is funding a program to better train direct-care workers.

The three-year, $589,172 grant, funded by the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at the University of Texas at Austin, will be coordinated by the Texas Network of Youth Services. It will make training, information and technical assistance available to all residential treatment centers in Texas, which can apply to get individualized services at their facilities.

“We’ve seen some [residential treatment centers ...