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Students in Colorado County can now access free mental health care services as part of a state program designed to serve school children.
Weimar and Columbus ISDs as well as Rice CISD participate in the Texas healthcare program, known as TCHATT, or Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine. The program provides free telehealth mental health counseling sessions at school during the school year and at a student’s home in the summer.
Columbus ISD’s Director of Special Programs Sarah Wanjura said that the pandemic may have helped lead the district to sign up for TCHATT but that was not the only reason.
“But more than COVID, it was just in a rural community for our clientele to have access to mental health,” Wanjura said. “You know, that was just important to us, for our students.”
Columbus ISD officially started using TCHATT in the spring of 2021, and the program has been providing free mental health care to students ever since. Specifically, the program provides students with opportunities for one-on-one counseling, medication management, and treatment for ADHD, anxiety and depression.
Since Columbus implemented TCHATT in May of 2021, students have participated in 94 therapy sessions across its four campuses. TCHATT was implemented at Rice CISD a little less than a year ago, but no sessions have taken place. Weimar ISD joined the program in August of 2022 and has had 105 sessions.
“So, we do provide summer services all across the state and we will accept referrals,” said Jew. “For any student who’s already receiving services, we will provide services in the summertime, and typically those transition to a home-based telehealth service.”
Wanjura said that Columbus ISD promotes these summer services as well.
“We have sources on our website about different things we have, but if someone came to us and they hadn’t been using TCHATT then we would do whatever we could to make that happen during the summer,” said Wanjura. “My assistant and I, we’re there pretty much all summer.”
The year-round service helps ease the mental health care provider shortage in the state. Texas is ranked last in access to care by the advocacy group Mental Health America. Rural areas like Colorado County suffer from the greatest deficit, according to Texas Community Health News. Colorado County has less than half the number of licensed professional counselors per 100k residents as the rest of Texas.
Dr. Puja Patel, a pediatric psychologist who works with TCHATT, worries that some districts may view the program as a threat to local services and counselors.
“So, one of the things that I like to say is that, you know, TCHATT services are there to support whatever need or gap you have,” Patel said. “We’re not looking to replace any existing services, but just be able to provide additional support for your students in your campus.”
TCHATT, which began four years ago, is available in 69% of schools statewide and serves more than 4 million students. Schools must opt in to the program for students to have access to services. Over 174,000 counseling sessions have been provided to more than 33,000 students across the state, according to TCHATT data.
Parents wanting to learn more about how TCHATT can benefit their children can visit For Parents – TCMHCC (utsystem.edu).
