After hacking hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from state mental health programs, right-wing Texas governor Greg Abbott claimed that an "abundance of mental health services" would be available to the survivors of the mass shooting that took the lives of 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in Uvalde.
”Mental health organizations are assembling a collection of services to assist those who seek help in Uvalde,” NBC News reports. “But there have been hiccups and hitches along the way,” including callers being told that they have to pay for appointments that Abbott had claimed were going to be free.
There are also worries about culturally competent care. “Many are not accustomed to seeking out therapy, or are distrustful of who is providing it,” the report continued. Most Uvalde residents commonly speak Spanish at home, but it’s unclear if bilingual services have been available.
RELATED STORY: Police had rifles and ballistic shield on scene, but still didn't confront shooter in Uvalde, Texas
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NBC News reports that among residents who have sought mental health treatment is Uvalde County justice of the peace Eulalio “Lalo” Diaz, who was tasked with informing parents about their dead children. “Diaz said he still hears the rings of phones from the backpacks of the slain children in Room 112 and from the desk phone of Irma Garcia, their teacher who had tried to protect them,” the report continued.
His cousin, Uvalde native Monica Muñoz Martinez, is the caller who called Abbott’s hotline for a list of therapists but was told that she’d have to contact her insurance company to schedule a paid visit. Even if it were to schedule a free visit, who wants to haggle with an insurance company during grief? Who wants to haggle with an insurance company at any time?
NBC News reports that while Abbott has directed $5 million be set aside for a Uvalde Together Resiliency Center, local residents say the money should be invested in existing local services instead, like a local health clinic that has already been there for decades. Texas Sen. Rolando Gutierrez told NBC News that funding could be used to bring in more therapists instead of shuttling families around. He said he’s asked Abbott for $2 million but has heard nothing back.
“What the families have been telling me is they don’t want to see one therapist one week, a different one the following and another one yet maybe the next week,” he told NBC News. “So, they are having trouble with appointments, with continuity, and that’s very, very important, especially when we are talking about young children.”
$2 million ask is a small ask compared to the billions wasted on anti-immigrant stunts at the southern border. Abbott has spent nearly the entire amount that Gutierrez is asking for on a stunt busing migrants from Texas to Washington, D.C., to “punish” the president. NBC 5 reported that the busing has cost more than $1,400 per passenger (more than a first-class plane ticket), to a tune of $1.6 million. But notice how quickly one thing got funded, and which one is still languishing.
What’s also severely lacking are answers. Answers about how and why grown people whose jobs are supposedly to serve and to protect left children to die. ”Police had rifles and ballistic shield on scene, but still didn't confront shooter in Uvalde, Texas,” Daily Kos’ Mark Sumner wrote on Tuesday.
Residents aren’t even getting the respect of bilingual updates from officials. “Unfortunately, authorities in Texas have only provided information pertaining to the shooting in English and have gone as far as ignoring multiple requests to provide remarks in Spanish, including at press conferences,” lawmakers recently said.
“Initial claims and narratives are inconsistent, and these inconsistencies make it more crucial that accurate information is provided to all community members in their preferred language in a timely manner,” lawmakers continued. “As investigations continue, all Uvalde residents deserve to know the full details of this horrifying tragedy.” Meanwhile, John “Cornyn Con” Cornyn is making sure that nothing meaningful about guns gets passed.
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