Department of State Health Services

In Texas, parents can get their children exemptions from the vaccines required to attend public and private schools for "reasons of conscience." Use our lookup tool to see how exemption rates have changed in school districts and private schools across the state.

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Abbott said the measure "is an unnecessary invasion of parental rights and an unfortunate example of over-criminalization."

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A proposal on its way to Gov. Greg Abbott would make it easier for pickled beets, carrots and other produce to be sold at farmers markets alongside pickled cucumbers.

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Texas tries to track the number of students with vaccine exemptions every year, but the data is incomplete and doesn't include the opt-out rates for individual public schools. Amid a recent rise in measles cases across the country, some in the Legislature are calling for more detailed reporting.

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Since 2005, state lawmakers have received the agency's biennial report detailing inefficiencies in government, but this year the report was not made public.

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The backlog — exacerbated by the state's switch in January to a new computer system for processing records — comes as the short-staffed Texas Department of State Health Services vies for a boost in funding. Meanwhile, families anxiously wait.

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The Texas Department of State Health Services says 186 people, including immigrants and detention center employees, were confirmed with cases of mumps since October.

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Lawmakers in both chambers and parties want to fix the controversial Driver Responsibility Program, but the program funds state trauma centers. Where will they find $144 million to fill the gap?

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Amid uncertainty about the federal health law, state legislators will tackle a variety of issues during the session, from abortion to mental health to opioids to funding for Medicaid.

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A leading anti-vaccine group claims that day cares are breaking the law by denying kids who haven't been vaccinated. Experts say the group is misinterpreting the law.

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The ruling comes after a five-day trial in July at which patients, health providers, state agency officials, bioethicists, cemetery directors and religious leaders got on the witness stand.

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On this week's TribCast, Emily talks to Ross, Marissa and Emma about moldy, rat-infested state office buildings, family reunifications at the border, TV ads in the U.S. Senate race and a Republican state lawmaker's tough words for the Texas governor.

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If the state's health agencies have been willing — until found out — to let their own employees work in squalor, should the rest of us be asking more questions about how they're watching out for us?

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The Texas Tribune obtained a recording of a town hall meeting with Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner John Hellerstedt and state workers nearly two weeks after they were relocated from the Austin State Hospital 636 building where a mold infestation had invaded their workspace.

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On this week's TribCast, Emily talks to Evan, Patrick and Emma about Texas' mold-infested state health services building, whether the feds will meet a court-ordered deadline for migrant family reunifications and why some Republican statewide officials have no incentive to debate their Democratic opponents.

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Texas Department of State Health Services employees are being relocated from the Austin State Hospital 636 building where a mold infestation has invaded their desks, chairs, carpeting and keyboard hand rests. The news comes one day after The Texas Tribune reported the mold incursion.

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Workers have found mold infiltrating their desks, chairs and keyboard hand rests in the Austin State Hospital 636 building. The state has spent nearly $16,000 fighting the mold so far.

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The law at the center of the case is Senate Bill 8, passed in 2017, which requires the burial or cremation of fetal remains.

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Poland and Texas have comparable populations, conservative governments and stringent anti-abortion policies. But they differ significantly in how health care is delivered for women — and in the role they allow midwives to play in the childbirth process.

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The State Auditor’s Office released a 30-page report on Monday showing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Department of State Health Services bungled a contract with Genesis Systems Inc.

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