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Board approves UTRGV telehealth agreement to expand student behavioral health services
Summary
Trustees approved an agreement with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to provide telehealth behavioral services under the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium; services include initial assessment, up to four telehealth sessions, referrals and family education resources.
The Mercedes ISD Board of Trustees approved an agreement with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) to provide telehealth behavioral-health services to students through the state’s Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (Teach program). The district described the program as an at‑no‑cost service to schools that offers mental-health assessments, an individualized treatment plan and a limited series of telehealth sessions for students identified as at-risk.
Under the agreement, UTRGV will provide an initial mental-health assessment for referred students, develop treatment plans with families and offer up to four telehealth counseling sessions per referred student as clinically appropriate. The program also includes referrals to local resources, patient history screenings, and educational outreach for school personnel and families. Counselors and campus staff are expected to be the primary referral source for students; the district said it will coordinate outreach to make families aware of the service and will provide materials in English and Spanish.
Board members described the program as a timely resource given local student needs, and trustees asked administration to work with the university and parental-engagement staff to publicize the service, produce flyers in English and Spanish and ensure broad campus-level awareness. The motion to approve the agreement passed unanimously at the board meeting.
