Healing Young Hearts and Minds Through the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium

The landscape of mental health care for children in Texas is expanding quickly and the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (TCMHCC) is leading a collaborative movement dedicated to improving access to care and championing the well-being of young minds to create a brighter future for children and families.

Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium

The Texas legislature created the TCMHCC in 2019 in response to the pressing mental health crisis afflicting an alarming number of Texas youth. Ever since, the consortium has worked to provide mental health services to more Texas children, educate communities, schools and primary care doctors, enhance research efforts and develop a pipeline of mental health workers to address a critical shortage.

The TCMHCC, which includes academic institutions, health care providers and community organizations, and is primarily funded through appropriations from the state, is housed at The University of Texas System and leverages the expertise and capacity of health-related institutions throughout Texas, including UT Southwestern, UT Rio Grande Valley, UT Tyler Health Science Center, UTHealth Houston, UT Austin Dell Medical School, UT Health San Antonio and UT Medical Branch.

The consortium also partners with private organizations to extend the reach of its multiple initiatives.

The TCMHCC’s impact is felt through its innovative initiatives and the dedicated people who lead them, such as Dr. Puja Patel, a pediatric psychologist at UT Health Austin Pediatric Psychiatry at Dell Children’s Hospital. Dr. Patel is involved in two data-driven research projects – the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) and Child Psychiatry Access Network (CPAN) – designed to assess and learn more about health conditions like trauma and depression to improve treatments.

Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine

Through TCHATT, mental health providers across Texas connect virtually to share their expertise, discuss complex cases and provide guidance to professionals in underserved areas. This collaborative model bridges geographical gaps, enabling children in remote portions of the state to access specialized care and expertise that otherwise may have been out of reach.

“We’re able to really target rural areas and help take away any sort of stigma that’s related to mental health,” Dr. Patel said of the TCHATT program.

Dr. Patel shares a number of inspiring TCHATT success stories. One case started as a referral for a 16-year-old boy who had difficulty keeping his attention in class. After concluding an assessment, Dr. Patel and her team ruled out the suspected diagnosis of ADHD and discovered his condition was an early onset of psychosis. In conjunction with local mental health officials, the boy was able to receive immediate treatment, and TCHATT was able to provide his parents with an understanding of their son’s diagnosis.

Child Psychiatry Access Network

The second program, CPAN, is a network of child psychiatrists and other licensed mental health professionals who offer support and consultation to primary care providers and pediatricians across the state. Through telephone or virtual consultations, child psychiatrists provide guidance to healthcare practitioners regarding the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues in their pediatric patients.

CPAN is free to access for physicians with concerns about child mental health.

“Collaboratively, across the state, we look at the needs of youth in all sorts of communities and optimize on how to support,” Dr. Patel said.

In doing so, they help pediatricians gain awareness of CPAN and understand the goals and benefits of the program.

Dedicated to improving the well-being of children and adolescents, the TCMHCC continues to forge a path toward transforming mental health care in Texas.