Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT)
What is TCHATT?
Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) provides telemedicine or telehealth programs to school districts to help identify and assess the behavioral health needs of children and adolescents and provide access to mental health services.
If you’re interested in joining TCHATT, please email us at tcmhcc@utsystem.edu to see if it is available in your region. TCHATT is deploying first in those regions where an existing infrastructure can be expanded or a new infrastructure can be set up quickly.
Who Can Access TCHATT
TCHATT is not currently accessible to all students in Texas. On the map above, you can see if your school or school district is enrolled or soon-to-be enrolled.
When to Use TCHATT
Call TCHATT any time behaviors are seen or reported that have you concerned for a student’s mental health.
How to use TCHATT?
- Share your concern with your school’s designated TCHATT liaison, or refer the student to your school’s designated TCHATT liaison.
- The school TCHATT liaison will ensure required consent forms have been
signed by the appropriate party (i.e., student, parent, guardian). If the parent/ guardian agrees to TCHATT, the liaison will collect some basic information to share with TCHATT. - The school TCHATT liaison then calls TCHATT.
When the School TCHATT Liaison Calls TCHATT
- For urgent issues, further screening via telemedicine will be scheduled with the most appropriate TCHATT mental health specialist.
- For less urgent issues, we will schedule an assessment of the mental health needs.
- After a TCHATT Encounter, TCHATT staff may refer the student to a local pediatric psychiatrist or other mental health professional; a local pediatrician with support from pediatric psychiatry faculty; or the local mental health community center.
TCHATT Chairs
Sarah Wakefield, MD, Texas Tech University Health Science Center
Alex Vo, PhD, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston