BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – It’s difficult for children to be in good mental health if they’re hungry. That’s a reality Bexar County leaders discussed on Monday as they gathered for the second annual Bexar County Area School Safety and Mental Health Summit.
The event was in partnership with the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. It aimed at looking at what school and community leaders are doing to ensure mental health for school-aged children is a public health priority.
The day-long summit included a youth panel discussion from San Antonio Independent School District’s Student Advisory Committee, a school safety panel discussion with the San Antonio Police Department, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.
Leaders discussed how school safety, substance use and family financial issues affect students’ mental health.
“When students have been polled, they have talked about their family’s economic security affecting their own day-to-day and their own mental health,” said Jessie Higgins, chief mental health officer for the City of San Antonio.
“And so when we look at the government shutdown ... cuts to insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, tax credits going away ... SNAP benefits going away, we know that all of that has a direct impact on how a student, how a child, how a person feels every day when they go into the spaces that they occupy,” Higgins said. “And so it’s a huge issue that we have to pay attention to.”
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai said all leaders need to work together to help kids succeed.
“We have to provide wraparound services,” Sakai said. “So, we have deal with food insecurity, we have to deal with housing insecurity, we’ve got to deal with access to health care. More importantly, we need to make sure that our students have access to mental health services and support.”
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