Campus Alliance for Telehealth Resources
Rural Mental Health Access
The Campus Alliance for Telehealth Resources (CATR) program seeks to improve the mental
health of communities across West Texas through partnership with independent school
districts (ISDs). CATR is supported by the Texas Child Health Access Though Telemedicine
(TCHATT) to assist in directing counseling and telepsychiatry to students across our
region, link families with community resources, and provide educational materials
for school personnel through community learning collaboratives. The support from TCHATT
allows this valuable program to span across the Panhandle Plains region of Texas and
extends slightly into the Big Bend, Hill Country, and Prairies and Lakes regions.
CATR improves access to mental health care expertise through free, time-limited mental
health services to youth in need of urgent behavioral or emotional assessment and
care.
Services for Students
- Provides mental health screening to students in grades 4 - 12
- Provides mental health resources to the West Texas region
- Convenient telehealth appointments
- Follow-up care available
Services for Professionals
- Case-based learning
- Provides best practice models
- No cost to independent school districts (ISDs)
- Eligible for CEU credits
The goals of providing mental health assessment and mental health care in the school
setting is to improve access, decrease stigma, decrease time away from school, improve
community support, and improve outcomes as soon as possible so students can get back
to the work of growing and developing into happy and successful citizens.
Dr. Sarah Mallard Wakefield, MD
Chair, Department of Psychiatry Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Services