Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Mental Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mental‑health, McKinney‑Vento and after‑school advocates ask Legislature to fund counselors, MTSS and liaisons
Summary
Mental‑health and community‑services advocates told the subcommittee Texas needs new recurring funds to keep counselors, MTSS and McKinney‑Vento liaisons in schools as federal grants wind down.
A broad coalition of mental‑health, homelessness and after‑school advocates told the Article III subcommittee that federal pandemic funds that supported regional school mental‑health programs and McKinney‑Vento liaison activities are expiring and that the state should backfill successful programs with recurring funding.
Why it matters: Students’ access to counselors, multi‑tiered systems of support (MTSS) and community partnerships affects attendance, behavioral health outcomes and the ability of schools to prevent crises. Advocates and providers told the subcommittee underinvestment limits access to services and causes fragile programs to end when federal grants expire.
What witnesses requested and said - Dedicated mental‑health allotment or contingent funding: School counselors, behavioral‑health advocates and the Hogg Foundation recommended a separate mental‑health allotment or a contingency rider in Article III so schools can use dollars clearly for prevention, early intervention and suicide‑prevention training. Jason Castillo of the Hogg Foundation noted the school safety allotment’s allowable uses include psychological safety but said less than 2% of prior safety allotment spending went to mental‑health services. - McKinney‑Vento (homelessness) funding: Texas Appleseed urged a dedicated $80 million in recurring state funding for McKinney‑Vento liaisons and services, arguing that current federal passthroughs and competitive TESHI grants leave liaisons underfunded; Martin Martinez read testimony describing how $9 million in TESHI grants equates to about $77 per identified homeless student statewide without additional state support. - Sustain successful community and after‑school programs: The Hogg Foundation and Boys & Girls Clubs asked the Legislature to fund proven programs such as Communities in Schools (recommended additional $10 million) and expand the Texas Academic Innovation and Mentoring (AIM) program (Boys & Girls Clubs asked to increase AIM from $2.137 million to $5 million per year to reach additional rural and urban sites). Vincent Harding of the Boys & Girls Clubs said AIM demonstrated reading and math gains in funded sites.
Providers’ evidence: Several witnesses pointed to program evaluations and school surveys (Hogg Foundation, TEA data cited in testimony) showing higher demand for school‑based mental health and gaps in staffing. The Texas Counseling Association urged funding to lower student‑to‑counselor ratios and to include school counselors in any educator pay increases the Legislature adopts.
Ending: Advocates asked the subcommittee to use Article III contingency language and targeted appropriations to sustain programs as federal grants expire and to prioritize prevention and staffing over one‑time equipment or capital expenditures.
