TTUHSC El Paso’s TCHATT program provides mental health care for rural youth

Most often-rural counties in Texas and across the country do not even have one child and adolescent psychiatrist. This is where programs like the Texas Child Health Access through Telemedicine (TCHATT) program, comes into play. TCHATT offers appointments through telemedicine that provide immediate mental health care needed by youth, especially in these days of regularly occurring crises like mass shootings than often trigger PTSD, anxiety, and panic attacks.

• One in six U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year.
• Half of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24.
• Depression alone costs the nation about $210.5 billion annually.
• The average delay between onset of mental illness symptoms and treatment is 11 years.

Our mental health expert is available to speak on how Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso serves as the West Texas hub for TCHATT.

TCHATT provides rapid assessment, therapy sessions, resource referrals, and psychoeducation to school officials, children and families in areas often underserved and underinsured.

TTUHSC El Paso’s TCHATT program has the capability to reach 36 school districts from El Paso County to Val Verde County in Del Rio, Texas.

Currently, TTUHSC El Paso’s TCHATT program works with 16 West Texas school districts. To date, 1,258 young students have been enrolled in the program. As of February 2023, therapists and child and adolescent psychiatrists have seen 3,090 total patient visits.