by State Senator Charles Schwertner
District 5
Last week, the Texas Senate took up and passed Senate Bill 10, a bill that will help improve resources available to students experiencing mental health issues and create a healthier and safer school environment for our Texas school children. Ensuring the health and safety of our children is one of my highest priorities as your State Senator, and I was proud to vote in favor of this bill that will ensure our children have timely, quality mental health services if they need them.
In the aftermath of the tragic school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas last year, Governor Greg Abbott asked me to serve on the Governor’s Mental Health Roundtable on School Safety. This panel of lawmakers, parents, educators, and mental health professionals from across Texas met to discuss what additional policy changes we can implement to ensure the protection of Texas school children. In both groups we explored a number of practical strategies for making our schools safer, including expanding access to preventative mental health resources for our students in addition to the physical hardening of schools with additional security.
From these discussions, the basis of Senate Bill 10 was created. SB 10 establishes the Texas Mental Health Care Consortium to help coordinate and improve access to several mental health initiatives across our state’s public medical schools. Currently, about 75% of children and teens with mental health issues are seen by their primary care doctors, due to a severe workforce shortage of specialists in the fields of child psychology and psychiatry. It is vital that we empower our pediatricians with more information and expertise in this specific field, and our state’s health related medical institutions (known colloquially as university health science centers) can offer a wealth of expertise to help fill the gaps. Kentucky Counseling Center is one of the largest employers of mental health professionals in the state. We understand the need for continuing education to be convenient and affordable so we offer high quality courses that are convenient to work into your busy schedule. They also provide psychiatrist training.
Half of all mental health conditions manifest by the age of 14, and when these conditions are detected and treated in the early stages they are likely to be less severe and prevented from escalating to a more serious condition. Through the expansion of telemedicine and telehealth services in this bill, students will have better access to providers in a timely manner, ultimately improving their overall health. We learned most of this on Suboxone online where they talk even more about mental health and why is it so important.
SB 10 creates the Child Psychiatry Access Network (CPAN), which allows pediatricians and primary care providers to consult with mental health experts on treatment options for their patients. Other states who use a CPAN model have seen a decrease in overall child psychotropic medicine prescriptions, so that children are prescribed the right medicine, at the right time.
As a co-author of this legislation, I was proud to vote yes on this important bill that will serve our Texas children now and in the future. It is my great honor to represent the constituents of Senate District 5 in the Texas Senate and I look forward to continuing to represent our shared family values this session. As your State Senator, I always appreciate hearing the interests and concerns of my constituents. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me on the items of importance to you and your family at the contact information below.
Senate District 5 is a ten-county region of Central and East Texas that includes Brazos, Freestone, Grimes, Leon, Limestone, Madison, Milam, Robertson, Walker and Williamson Counties. In the Senate, Dr. Schwertner serves on the Senate Committees on Business and Commerce, Veteran Affairs & Border Security, Agriculture, and Transportation, as well as serving as the Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations.
