TCHATT-website-about

About TCHATT

TCHATT is a free service paid for by the state — no insurance required — giving students the care they need, when they need it, conveniently arranged through their school.

Watch the “Why Schools Need TCHATT” in English or Español.
Click to read the “Why Schools Need TCHATT” video transcript in English.

 To have a direct line for a child psychiatrist. I don’t think school districts. Understand the magnitude of what that means to student care. The challenges that we see with students range from, you know, peer conflicts, family conflicts at home. I don’t think we can afford not to provide mental health care to our students.

We know resources are limited in the community, so the only place they’re gonna get it is here at school. If you can connect with an absolutely amazing partner like teacher to provide that care, then you are providing the best services and support to your students. TCHATT stands for Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine.

Our job is to help support schools in identifying and supporting mental health needs for children. I’ve seen teach a change just different students’ lives where they’re much happier, um, they feel like they have hope. TCHATT is a program, it’s telehealth. It is a program that is free to school districts; there’s no cost.

Equipment is provided, there is funding available if school districts do not have the funding, all of our ISDs have different resources and um, support services that already exist. And so one of the things that we feel very strongly about is that we are not trying to replace any of the existing services, but just extend care where there might be need.

This took the district’s ability. Miles down the road because now a counselor who can only go this far, she has a direct line to a psychiatrist or a psychologist or another licensed individual. They need that support and I think that team approach is, uh, what makes it so successful. It is a great avenue for students to get the mental health that they need.

It gives students immediate interventions, um, and they need that. For districts who don’t know about the TCHATT program, take a listen to what TCHATT has to offer, consider, um, your students. If we are putting students first, then we have to understand that students need care. Other districts should be part of TCHATT because our students are needing this care more than ever.

TCHATT is essential to our school district. Um, I’m glad we have it. We are educating the whole student, you know, we feed them and in the same way many of them need the mental health care.

Click to read the “Why Schools Need TCHATT” video transcript in Español.

 Sabemos que si el estudiante no recibe el apoyo en las alimentar el la emocional, no van a poder ser exitosos académicamente. Nuestro programa se enfoca aar apoyo en una variedad. De dificultades en salud mental desde un diagnóstico de ansiedad, al igual que si hay algún trauma reciente o ya pasado. Yo he trabajado en otros lugares donde no teníamos esto.

Y so yo puedo ver la diferencia con los estudiantes con los padres con la comunidad. El programa t, para mí es un programa except excepcional. Chi chat por sus siglas en inglés significa acceso a la salud infantil en tejas a través de la tele. Y es un programa que se enfoque en brindar acceso a la terapia en este modo virtual para asegurarnos de eliminar cualquier obstáculo que pueda prevenir a familias.

Una cosa que es muy importante es que ti cha es un programa que es gratis. No tenemos que preocuparnos por pagar por los servicios. Están disponibles a todas las escuelas, a todos los grados. También proveen la tecnología paga que los estudiantes puedan acceder sus sesiones virtualmente con el programa ti chat.

Podemos tener consejeros psicólogos que hablan español y se pueden comunicar directamente con nuestras familias y también con nuestros estudiantes. Los estudiantes les encanta. Me preguntan cuándo voy a tener mi cita. También se sienten muy amados, muy queridos y saben que alguien está allí para ayudarlos.

Todos los distritos con los que trabajamos tienen diferentes niveles de recursos disponibles. No estamos aquí para reemplazar ninguno de esos recursos que ya existen. Sin embargo, si para ampliar, estoy de decir que que estoy allí para ayudarles. Pero aparte de estar ahí para ayudarles, que también hay otros servicios que me van a ayudar a mi también a hacer mejor mi papel como consejera, yo sé que puedo contar con t y encontrar una solución inmediata al problema que tengo.

No solamente es para los padres, para los niños, para mí también. Y yo me siento muy segura poder tener eso para poder ayudarles a mis estudiantes. El apoyo de tecnología, el apoyo de orientación, el apoyo de entrenamiento, ese excepcional. Nosotros podemos ayudar a los estudiantes con su desarrollo académico, con su desarrollo, con el comportamiento, pero nos faltaba un factor y ese factor era la salud mental y a base del recurso que nos pruebe t.

Shot, ahora lo tenemos y podemos ayudar al estudiante de todas maneras.

How TCHATT works

Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) provides in-school telemedicine services for children and adolescents with behavioral health needs. In some cases, services can even be administered outside of the school setting. Students receive an initial intervention and/or assessment, and, if necessary, referrals to community-based mental health care providers. The Dell Medical School (DMS) hub serves students in 13 Central Texas counties as part of a larger, statewide TCHATT program.

Our services

For students

  • Free, time-limited mental health services to students with mental health needs.
  • TCHATT is a targeted program. We will take care of students if they need additional services.

For school staff

  • Direct consultations with enrolled school staff.
  • Mental health education and training.

Our partners

TCHATT is available to over 4 million students across Texas. In Central Texas, the Dell Medical School TCHATT hub has partnered with over 50 school districts and is adding more all the time. We aim to bring TCHATT services to every child and adolescent in the region.

*Please note that some enrolled districts have campuses that do not participate in TCHATT.

The number of students across the state who had access to TCHATT services as of April 2024, according to data from the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium.

Our leadership

Headshot of Nithya Mani, M.D., smiling with a window blurred in the background.

Nithya Mani, M.D.

Dr. Nithya Mani is a board-certified pediatric psychiatrist and director of pediatric public psychiatry for Dell Medical School’s Texas Child Mental Health Programs, which oversees TCHATT.

Headshot of Puja Patel, Ph.D., smiling and wearing a white lab coat.

Puja Patel, Ph.D.

Puja Patel, Ph.D., is a licensed pediatric psychologist and director of pediatric psychology for Dell Medical School’s Texas Child Mental Health Programs, which oversees TCHATT.