The Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (TCMHCC) was provided $90 million for the FY 2019-2021 biennium in support of the following initiatives:
The Child Psychiatry Access Network (CPAN) will be a network of academic hubs that will provide telemedicine-based consultation and training to pediatricians to assist them with identifying mental health issues in their patients. It will consist of the following components:
- State-wide telephone system that will respond to calls from primary care providers within 5 minutes, and if immediate assistance is needed will connect the provider with a child and adolescent specialist within 30 minutes.
- State-wide data management system that will track calls and responses in order to measure both need and responsiveness.
- Educational content for primary care providers, developed by CPAN members, to assist in assessing and referring children and adolescents with behavioral health needs.
- Marketing to raise awareness of CPAN services and to disseminate educational material.
In order to efficiently make use of state funding, CPAN will deploy first in those regions where an existing infrastructure can be exploited or a new infrastructure can set up quickly. The objective is to enroll 75% of primary care practices in the covered regions by the end of the second year of implementation.
CPAN Workgroup Chairs:
Laurel Williams, DO, Baylor College of Medicine
Sarah Martin, MD, Texas Tech University
The Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) program will create or tap into existing telemedicine or telehealth programs to assist school districts with identifying mental health care needs and accessing services.
It will consist of the following components:
- Provision of direct telepsychiatry or counseling services to children and adolescent within the schools.
- Educational and training materials for school staff to assist in assessing, supporting, and referring children and adolescents with mental health needs.
- Analysis and mapping of existing telemedicine and telehealth programs that are currently providing, or can be adapted to provide, services to schools.
- State-wide data management system that will track calls and responses in order to measure both need and responsiveness.
In order to efficiently make use of state funding, TCHATT will deploy first in those regions where an existing infrastructure can be expanded or a new infrastructure can be set up quickly.
TCHATT Chairs:
Sarah Wakefield, MD, Texas Tech University Health Science Center
Alex Vo, PhD, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
The Consortium will support the expansion of the child and adolescent psychiatry workforce in Texas through two means.
- Funding full-time psychiatrists to serve as academic medical directors at community mental health providers as well as new resident rotations at those facilities
- Funding additional fellowship positions in child and adolescent psychiatry at the state-funded health related institutions.
Workforce Chairs:
Community Psychiatry Expansion Project (CPEP): Steven Pliszka, MD, UT Health San Antonio
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowships: Elizabeth Newlin, MD, UTHealth
The goal of Research workgroup, under the supervision of the Executive Committee, is to propose and ultimately fund 2-3 multi-institutional research projects in areas that have potential for advancing mental health care for children and adolescents in Texas. Only superior scientific projects focused on health services will be considered for funding.
Research Chair:
Carol Tamminga, MD, UT Southwestern