The latest mental health news from The Texas Tribune.
The region has some of the highest suicide rates in the state. But the safety net for people who need help is being stretched thin, and some Texans are falling through. Full Story
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One of the big bills of the session — a sales- for property-tax swap — was put on ice this week. Lots of other bills are ready for their post-session burials, too, but keep your eyes open. In the Texas Legislature, dead legislation has a way of coming back to life. Full Story
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Prisoners who volunteered for a mental health diversion program say promises of therapy and time out of their cells weren't fulfilled. And Texas prison officials aren't regularly tracking success rates — even as they ask lawmakers to fund an expansion of the program. Full Story
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The newfound push this session around school safety and preventing mass shootings is reinvigorating ideas about mental health care for Texas children. But advocates often cringe when legislators make the argument that mental health care is the key to preventing mass shootings. Full Story
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State leaders have promised to tackle school safety this session, and lawmakers are expected to push bills that would beef up mental health screening programs and make it easier to arm teachers. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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Nearly a year after Hurricane Harvey submerged Port Arthur, students are still fighting its effects as they return to school. Full Story
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Texas Health and Human Services officials announced Monday that they are receiving $47.7 million to begin needed construction for existing state hospitals, some of which are more than a century old. Full Story
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Texas tackled a child welfare crisis, sought to address the opioid epidemic and looked at how to help more people in the state access mental health care. Here’s a look at this year's top Texas health and human services stories. Full Story
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The infestation of Norwegian rats in a state building where health regulators work is not only a big, embarrassing mess — it's a metaphor for a persistent problem in Texas government. Full Story
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Under a new law that took effect Sept. 1, insurance companies may not cover mental health and substance abuse care differently than they cover medical care. Full Story
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Texas death row inmate Scott Panetti, diagnosed with schizophrenia, will be given a new shot to prove his incompetency after a federal appeals court ruling on Tuesday. Full Story
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A Texas Senate committee will take up a bill Wednesday that would redefine "psychology" in response to a court ruling that found parts of the state's current definition are unconstitutional. Full Story
House Public Health Committee members heard testimony on three measures — House Bill 2466, House Bill 2604 and House Bill 2135 — that would aim to increase access to postpartum depression screenings and treatment for mothers. Full Story
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Texas House members approved a bill that would prevent health insurance companies from offering mental health benefits differently from medical benefits. Full Story
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The state carried out its fourth execution of the year, putting to death 61-year-old James Bigby. He was convicted in the 1987 murders of his friend and a 4-month-old during a killing spree in Fort Worth. Full Story
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State Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, has filed long-shot House Bill 3080, which would prevent offenders proven to have had a severe mental illness at the time of their crime from being sentenced to death in a capital murder case. Full Story
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A bill from state Rep. Dustin Burrows would let some Texas psychologists write prescriptions. Supporters say the move would ease a shortage of psychiatrists, currently the only mental health doctors allowed prescription privileges. Full Story
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Full video of Evan Smith's 1/26 conversation about mental health policy in Texas with state Reps. Four Price, R-Amarillo, and Joe Moody, D-El Paso. Full Story
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Art Acevedo, the newly hired head of the police force in Texas' largest city, acknowledged at a Tribune symposium on Saturday the difficulty of finding new funding for the effort but argued for its importance. Full Story
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