Texas is struggling to diversify its mental health workforce as the state becomes less white
More than 40% of the state’s population is Hispanic, but its mental health provider population is more than 80% white. Full Story
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![In Texas, a key barrier to timely mental health care is the lack of Spanish-speaking providers in a state whose Hispanic population has become the majority.]()
Credit: Photo illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas criminal appeals court removes Tomas Gallo from death row because of his intellectual disability
The court re-sentenced Gallo to life in prison for the murder of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter. Full Story
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![The Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary houses the execution chamber of Texas and is located in Huntsville on Jan. 31, 2024.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Texas psychologists’ board pushes back on costly new national licensing exam, considers crafting a cheaper state test
Faced with a nagging mental health provider shortage, the state psychologists’ licensing board is looking into whether the state should devise its own exam to get professionals licensed more quickly. Full Story
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![Chair John Bielamowicz speaks during a the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists meeting during the discussion with the Association of State & Provincial Psychology Boards regarding the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology on Thursday, April 11, 2024 in Austin.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
A new Texas law allows schools to hire chaplains as counselors. So far, only one school has opted into the program.
Many independent school districts, including the largest ones, do not allow chaplains to serve as counselors, which is now allowed under a new Texas law. Full Story
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![Nimitz Middle School students gather in the hallway outside of a classroom as they wait for a teacher between periods Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023 in Odessa.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Taking a cue from the pews, Texas churches expanding mental health services
Many Texas faith groups have offered counseling services in the past. But more of them are expanding their programs, partnering with providers, to help meet the growing need here for mental health services. Full Story
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![AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 24: Praise and worship service at Rehoboth Baptist Church in Austin, Texas on March 24, 2024. Photo by Montinique Monroe Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune -
Texas libraries work to bridge state’s mental health services gap
Information-rich public libraries are using their websites and facilities to address the ever-increasing demand for counseling, housing and substance abuse services. Full Story
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![Librarian Judy Bergeron answers the phone in her office at the Smithville Public Library in Smithville, Texas on Mar. 11, 2024. Bergeron and her team participated in the It's Time Texas Community Challenge where her and her team worked for eight weeks on this challenge by logging hours of healthy activities and would push each other to do self care and community events such as getting together to exercise and eat healthy meals. Smithville won for the statewide extra small community a seventh year in a row.]()
Credit: Maria Crane for The Texas Tribune -
Grieving Houston-area students’ well-being at stake as federal COVID-19 funds fade
The federal stimulus money that helped fund many mental health positions in Texas schools will end in the fall of 2024. Full Story
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![Laura Ortega visits her husband Eliberto Ortega’s grave on Día de los Muertos along with their seven-year-old son to pay their respects, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, in Houston. Eliberto died of cardiac arrest while sick with the coronavirus in July 2021. (Marie D. De Jesús / Houston Landing)]()
Credit: Marie D. De Jesús/Houston Landing -
Texas’ vision for mental health care has fallen apart over the last 60 years
A lack of private providers, a swamped community mental health system, and low insurance reimbursement have cut off many in Texas from basic mental health services. Full Story
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![Elizabeth Ramirez at home in El Paso, Texas.]()
Credit: Emily Kinskey for The Texas Tribune -
As suicide rate increases, gun safety advocates call for more firearm regulations
A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed a new record for people using firearms in suicides. Texas gun safety and mental health advocates say the report highlights a need for gun laws the state does not have. Full Story
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Credit: Pu Ying Huang/The Texas Tribune -
Texas fire departments are fighting stigma and pushing to provide firefighters mental health help
Department leaders say they recognize that post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues are among the biggest dangers of the job. Full Story
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![Houston, Texas: Firefighters on November 22, 2023 at Fire Station 48 in Houston, Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
In Texas’ Panhandle, a long-awaited oasis for mental health care is springing up
The region that includes Amarillo, a Panhandle city of more than 200,000 people, and surrounding towns has long been a mental health care desert. Officials hope a new $159 million hospital can help reduce a massive spike in suicide attempts. Full Story
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![Residential area near downtown Amarillo on May 29, 2020.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
She was told her twin sons wouldn’t survive. Texas law made her give birth anyway.
Miranda Michel, 26, couldn’t leave the state for an abortion. But she also couldn’t bear the idea of carrying a nonviable pregnancy to term. Full Story
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![Miranda Michel cradles her twin sons Helios and Perseus Langley in her arms a day after delivery at Medical City Dallas in Dallas, TX on August 10, 2023. Unable to legally terminate the pregnancy in Texas despite the twins having lethal fetal anomalies and a zero percent chance of viability, Michel carried her twins to term.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
As West Texas’ population grows, the need for more mental health care does too
Like many regions in Texas, the county jails and hospitals have been at capacity with people needing mental health help. Local leaders hope a new 200-bed facility will alleviate pressure. Full Story
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![A rendering of the proposed Permian Basin Behavioral Health Center.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Permian Basin Behavioral Health Center -
Convicted murderer Scott Panetti isn’t sane enough to be executed, federal judge rules
Panetti murdered his in-laws in 1992. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2007 set new court precedent with his case, raising the bar on the constitutional restriction against executing the insane. Full Story
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![Interior of Death Chamber in Texas.]()
Credit: Jenevieve Robbins/Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo extends mental health leave
The county’s top elected official will be discharged from a mental health facility this weekend and plans to return to work on Oct. 2 after two weeks of outpatient therapy. Full Story
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![Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo greets attendees during a Get Out the Vote Rally hosted by the Asian American Democrats of Texas in Asiatown on Oct. 15, 2022.]()
Credit: Briana Vargas for The Texas Tribune -
Will Texas’ new fentanyl awareness curriculum for public schools succeed where other anti-drug messaging failed?
Historically, anti-drug messaging in schools has failed to acknowledge the mental health reasons that youth self-medicate. Without that key lesson, advocates worry House Bill 3908 will be another D.A.R.E. campaign. Full Story
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![High school students walk to their next class after the bell rings at Elsik Ninth Grade Center in Houston on March 28, 2018.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
Texas parents see their own health spiral when kids’ mental illnesses worsen
The stress of locating and maintaining regular care for a mentally ill child can take a toll on their caretakers’ well-being. Full Story
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![Brandon Masters at his home in San Antonio. Masters spent about $22,000 last year caring for his teenage son Braylon, who has bipolar disorder. When Masters developed a rash on the back of his arms and neck last year, his doctor told him it was connected to stress.]()
Credit: Lisa Krantz for KFF Health News -
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo takes leave of absence to treat depression
Hidalgo said she was diagnosed with the condition last month and aims to return to her post in September. More people across the country have been diagnosed with the condition since the COVID-19 pandemic. Full Story
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![Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo speaks on stage at a protest of the NRA Annual Meeting Friday, May 27, 2022, in Houston.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
As veteran disability claims soar, unaccredited coaches profit off frustration with VA system
Austin-based VA Claims Insider says it has helped hundreds of thousands of clients. It has also touched off complaints and investigations. Full Story
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![Jim Peckey, a former U.S. Navy Yeoman, holds a plaque gifted to him from his time in the service, in Abilene on Feb. 13, 2023.]()
Credit: Ronald W. Erdrich for The Texas Tribune -
This year, Texas lawmakers zeroed in on existing health care programs, leaving bolder measures by the wayside
Pregnant moms on Medicaid will get health care coverage for a year, patients will get more detailed billing and nurses will get help with school loans. But efforts failed to gain steam for legalizing fentanyl test strips, increasing the pool of mental health professionals who accept Medicaid and expanding Medicaid benefits to more Texans. Full Story
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![Learning Tree owner Christa Marek holds her granddaughter at the Learning Tree childcare center in Yoakum, on Sept. 13, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune