TEXAS — Since the shooting at an Uvalde elementary school, Republican state leaders are focused on mental health reforms. Texas has taken steps to ramp up youth mental health programs, but experts say more is needed. 

Texas ranks last in the nation for access to mental health care, according to a recent report by Mental Health America. The Texas chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that some 3.3 million Texans suffer from some form of mental illness. The state also has the highest number of uninsured residents in the nation.

“There is no doubt that there is a great need in investment in mental health services,” said Greg Hansch, the executive director of the NAMI Texas chapter. “We should make that investment, not because it will have a tangible impact on mass shootings in our state, but because it is the right thing to do. It’ll save lives.”

In 2019, the Legislature created a $290 million program designed to bring mental health services to schools. The Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium is in over 300 school districts and has reached more than 6,000 students so far. However, the program has not yet reached the Uvalde school district.

“It’s hard to say what impact it might have had in that particular case,” said Hansch. “But without question, there are many children who would be helped by those services if the services were available in the school setting.”

Ultimately, Hansch says the conversation around mass shootings and gun violence can’t end with pointing a finger at mental health.

“Mental illness should be part of the conversation, but it shouldn’t be the only thing that we look at,” he said. “This is a complex issue. And if we say that it is mental illness alone that’s causing these tragedies, it perpetuates a false narrative. And it discourages people from seeking treatment.”