Texans Care in the News
5.17.13 Health Insurance Needs
In an Austin American-Statesman letter to the editor, our Hogg Foundation Mental Health Policy Fellow Clayton Travis explained the need for a Texas health care solution. "Our state can still work with federal authorities to develop a "Texas solution” and accept available dollars so that more than 1 million uninsured Texans get the care and treatment they need," Travis wrote. "Health coverage does improve lives, and, as other research has shown, it saves lives, too."

5.13.13 House Panel OKs Parole After 40 Years for Young Murderers
The Texas Tribune reports that a House panel Monday unanimously approved a measure that would allow defendants younger than 18 to receive life sentences and be eligible for parole after 40 years. Our juvenile justice expert Lauren Rose said that judges making decisions about sentencing "need to take into account all of these different factors. The brain is not fully developed until 25. The trigger mechanism of 'Oh, I shouldn't be doing this' isn't always there."

5.2.13 Garcia: In Case You Haven't Noticed, It's Raining
Our CEO Eileen Garcia writes an op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman urging our political leaders to use the resources we have to "stabilize our economy to put Texas on a better path." Neither budget proposals being considered by the current state Legislature cover the basics for our communities and our children, Garcia states, and our schools and hospitals will remain struggling. By restoring 2011 budget cuts and using the rainy day fund Garcia writes, we can meet our state's needs.

4.25.13 Bill Aims to Limit Testing of Preschoolers, Kindergarteners
Senate Bill 1608 would restrict the bubble-in testing that school districts and the Texas Education Agency could require for pre-K and kindergarten students. KUT News quoted our early childhood expert Andrea Brauer, who opposed the bill. Texans Care for Children opposes the bill because it could lead to the less frequent usage of important screenings that help identify developmental delays and disabilities in children, and that, ultimately, isn't good for kids.

4.23.13 Senate Approves Bill Targeting Child Hunger
The Texas Tribune reports that the one in four Texas children who are food insecure could be assured a free meal every school day - breakfast - if a bill approved by the Senate continues to advance. Our health policy expert mentioned another way to provide Texans with access to healthy food. "Support for community gardens and urban agriculture could help more Texans access fruits and vegetables," Dimitry said.

3.13.13 Travis County Could Get Own Youth Lockup
The Austin American-Statesman reports legislation would allow Travis County and others across Texas to open their own prisons for teenaged lawbreakers for the first time. Our juvenile justice policy expert Lauren Rose tesified that the local lockups should meet or exceed standards for the state facilities, and that protections in state law for youthful offenders in state-run lockups should also cover those in the local ones.

3.4.13 Views on Medicaid Reform Vary
In light of the Texas Medicaid Matters Advocacy Day, Abilene Reporter-News interviewed our Hogg Academy Mental Health Fellow Clayton Travis about Medicaid expansion. "Medicaid expansion would add 1.3 million Texans to Medicaid," Travis said. Travis noted that those added would gain coverage that would include physical and mental health services.

2.25.13 Perry Ignoring Uncomfortable Pre-K Truths
Houston Chronicle columnist Lisa Falkenberg, who spoke to our staff member Kara Johnson, expressed concern in her article about early education in Texas. "It's hard to start a discussion on expanding pre-K or even on strengthening the quality of programs in Texas these days when we are just fighting to get back what we lost last session," Falkenberg said.

2.13.13 Report: Texas Could Save Money by Addressing Children's Needs
The San Antonio-Express News shared findings from Texans Care for Children's 2013 report that found the state could save billions of dollars by putting more children on a path to success through smart policy choices.

2.13.13 Texas Loses Money by Ignoring Children's Needs
The San Antonio Current covered the release of a Texans Care for Children report based on a year-long study. Our CEO Eileen Garcia explains, "what this report makes clear is that the decisions today by the legislature to get more children on the right path -- so children are prepared for school and can grow up healthy, safe, and thriving -- represent a choice to advance our state's prosperity for years to come."

2.11.13 Advocates Call on State to Step Up Efforts to Fight Hunger
The Texas Tribune spoke to Texans Care for Children's health policy advocate Lauren Dimitry about the responsible ways Texas can address hunger while providing nutritious food options for children and families.

2.6.2013 Report: Poor Well-Being of Texas Children Costs an Extra $20 Billion
A KUT News article describes children's policy recommendations made in a newly released Texans Care for Children report. Our CEO Eileen Garcia explains, "we're losing so much potential in our children, and as our report highlights there are real hard financial costs when we don't give children the support they need to grow up successful."

1.27.2013 There's Downside to Schoolhouse Cops
A San Antonio Express-News op-ed written by our juvenile justice expert, Lauren Rose, describes the downside to increasing the presence of police officers in schools. Rose explains, "ticketing by police officers, arrests on campus and discipline practices that remove kids from the classroom instead of keeping them where they learn happen more often with police officers in schools."

1.26.2013 Kids are a Great Investment in Texas
An Austin American-Statesman op-ed written by Texans Care staff explains what Texas can do to provide a brighter future for its 6.6 million children. Investments in health, education, child protection, juvenile justice, and early opportunities can help ensure the Texas of tomorrow will be better than the Texas of today.

1.18.2013 Strama Bill Would Pay Childcare Centers More for High Marks on State Evaluation
Rep. Mark Strama has filed House Bill 376, which aims to provide more funding to an early childhood education certification program called Texas Rising Star. The Texas Observer spoke with Kara Johnson, our early childhood education expert, who said the program is the state's best bet for measuring childcare provider quality.

1.11.2013 Agenda Texas: Funding Pre-School Education
The 83rd Texas State Legislature has more than $101 billion dollars to spend in the next session, according to the state Comptroller Susan Combs, and advocates are speaking up about restoring funds to education programs. KUT News and the Texas Tribune spoke to our early childhood education expert Kara Johnson about the benefits of investing in early childhood education. When you invest in high quality care, the key is high quality, you get a 350 percent return on your investment," said Johnson.

12.11.2012 Castro Burnishes Star Selling San Antonio Preschool Tax
San Antonio passes a plan to raise sales taxes to expand preschool for low-income children. The plan passed 18 months after lawmakers cut $100 million in annual grants for full-day preschool. Bloomberg News spoke with Kara Johnson, our early childhood education expert who states the initiative's success marked the first time Texas voters have backed a tax for prekindergarten.

11.10.2012 Advocates Worry Waco Center for Youth Could be on State's Fiscal Chopping Block
The Waco Center for Youth could be closed next year as the state looks to further shrink its budget, according to an article in the Waco Tribune. Our mental health expert Josette Saxton explains that if the current level of service is not maintained though, the state ultimately will spend more in the long run on juvenile justice, health care and other costs associated with not giving vulnerable teens the treatment they need.

10.31.12 Advocates Say Texas Still Behind Other States in Day Care Oversight
Texas recently passed laws to improve training requirements for its licensed child care centers, yet Texas children may still face more dangers than kids in other states, The Washington Post reports. Our early childhood education expert Kara Johnson spoke to the Associated Press for the story, and noted there is still more Texas can do to keep kids safe and ensure quality when they're not in their parents' care.

10.30.12 In Juvenile Justice, Community Probation Doesn't Always Mean Kids Are Close to Home
"After years of reform focused on placing kids in probation programs near home, advocates worry about transfers to county facilities hundreds of miles away," writes The Texas Observer in an investigative report on counties transferring youth in their care with little oversight. The magazine spoke with Texans Care CEO Eileen Garcia for the story.

10.27.12 Issue of Need Has Major Role in Pre-K Fight
As San Antonio voters prepare to decide whether to an initiative to ensure more local kids can enroll in pre-kindergarten programs, the San Antonio Express-News spoke to our early childhood education expert Kara Johnson about the value of pre-K opportunities, especially for children growing up in poverty.

10.21.12 Getting More Nutrition from Food Stamps is No Easy Recipe
Health policy associate Lauren Dimitry explains to the San Antonio Express-News why Texans Care for Children opposes plans that would limit families options to purchase food without ensuring they have access to healthy alternatives where they live.

9.10.12 Pre-K Debate Gets a Wider Audience
As San Antonio debates a ballot initiative to extend pre-K education to more of its children, the San Antonio Express-News discusses the value of early learning for children with our in-house pre-K expert Kara Johnson. She emphasizes the bipartisan consensus Texas has arrived at that early education matters.

9.7.12 State Leaders Told to Stop Pitting Education, Health-Care Needs Against Each Other
Texans Care for Children CEO Eileen Garcia, as chair of the Texas Forward coalition, is quoted in the Burnt Orange Report's blog post about a growing petition calling on state leaders to meet children's health care and education needs.

9.7.12 Hope Rises from the Ashes
An Austin American-Statesman editorial quotes our juvenile justice policy expert Lauren Rose on advances in a program for some of the most troubled youth in the juvenile justice system. As a letter to the editor from Lauren later notes, however, Texas cannot yet say it is ensuring the safety of all children within its care.

9.7.12 Teacher and Healthcare Groups Agree: Let's Get Together and Raise a Little Revenue
The Texas Observer reports on our work with "a coalition of healthcare and education groups gathered at the Capitol to try and beat back the idea that Texans have to choose between paying for schools or our growing demand for Medicaid. Texas Forward, a kind of public interest supergroup with dozens of members, organized the policy party, featuring bona fide lab-coated doctors side by side with teachers and union reps."

9.6.12 Texas Bets on Small Fixes to Reduce Violence in Youth LockUps
The Texas Observer spoke to Texans Care for Children's CEO Eileen Garcia and juvenile justice expert Lauren Rose about how the Texas Juvenile Justice Department is coping with its latest crisis: a new series of violent incidents in lockups.

9.5.12 Coalition Unites Behind Balanced Approach for State Budget
The Houston Chronicle was one of several news organizations to cover a Texas Forward press conference where Texans Care for Children and other groups suggested Texas must meet the needs of its children and all people, because cuts to vital services would only drag our state backwards.

9.2.12 New Juvenile Justice Program Shows Early Promise
In reporting on the Phoenix Program, a small facility for violent young offenders in the Texas juvenile justice system, the Austin American-Statesman spoke with our juvenile justice policy expert Lauren Rose, who notes the importance of small staff-to-youth ratios in creating a supportive environment.

8.28.12 Sugary Drinks and Obesity
The Houston Chronicle published a letter to the editor from our health policy associate Lauren Dimitry about the public should take an interest in preventing children from consuming too many sugary drinks. Lauren also offers a strategy for Texas to consider.

8.12.12 How Will the Recession Affect Today's Youth?
Kids today are growing up in one of the most difficult times in recent U.S. history. The Dallas Morning News spoke with Texans Care CEO Eileen Garcia about the lasting impact on children of growing up in a time of economic deprivation and growing austerity.

8.5.12 Giving Texas the Care It Needs: If anything, Medicaid needs more support, not more state control
Texas has a chance to save lives, improve health, and bring more peace of mind to millions of Texans, all while improving the state health system and ensuring more money in taxpayer pockets. In a Sunday Insight spotlight in the Austin American-Statesman, Texans Care for Children chief executive officer Eileen Garcia joined other members of the Texas Well and Healthy Campaign in making the case that growth in the state's Medicaid program is an important opportunity the state can't miss.

7.27.12 Dr. Perry vs. Obamacare: Whatever Gov. Tough Guy says, Texas health care is about to get a federal update
Benefits of the Affordable Care Act already are kicking in for countless Texans, and more will be coming down the pike as we explained to the Austin Chronicle. The article also highlights the work of the Texas Well and Healthy campaign that we help lead, which is educating and organizing folks across the state around the cause of better health care for Texas kids and families.

7.26.12 Texas #44 in Child Wellbeing
The Amarillo Globe-News reports on a new national ranking report that finds Texas falls behind 43 other states in overall wellbeing for children and speaks to Texans Care for Children CEO Eileen Garcia.

7.11.12 Efforts to Repeal, Limit Health Care Law Intensify in Congress and States
Nationally syndicated Free Speech Radio News spoke to Eileen Garcia, our CEO, about the governor's efforts to prevent Texas from expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The wellbeing of Texas families and their financial security is what defines success for Texas, she notes, and measures that would leave more families out of the health care system and holding the bill for medical care are no way to plan for future success.

7.10.12 4 Reasons Rick Perry May Regret Battling Obamacare
The Week, the international weekly news magazine, offers "the list" in each edition, with a focus this time on why Texas stands to benefit so much from the Affordable Care Act. CEO Eileen Garcia explains that the dollars Texas has to gain in its health system and local economies make the nation's health reform law a winning issue for Texas.

7.9.12 Perry Declares Texas' Rejection of Health Care Law 'Intrusions'
The New York Times' coverage of Governor Rick Perry's attempt to single-handedly opt Texas out of many of the benefits of the nation's health reform law included comments from our CEO Eileen Garcia in conjunction with our organization's role in Texas Well and Healthy, a campaign of grassroots supporters of improving health care for Texans.

7.6.12 Care Act Will Benefit Children
In a Houston Chronicle op-ed coauthored with our partners at the Center for Public Policy Priorities and Children's Defense Fund-Texas, CEO Eileen Garcia points out that the Supreme Court's ruling on the nation's health care law is good for Texas children, who are currently the nation's kids most likely to go without insurance or have parents with no insurance.

7.2.12 Health Care Ruling is Good for Texas
In the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, advocates including Texans Care's Eileen Garcia explain what comes next after a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the nation's health reform law: "We look to build upon the enormous progress for children's healthcare under the law and will work until every Texan is guaranteed access to comprehensive, affordable healthcare."

6.28.12 Texans React to Health Ruling
The Texas Tribune included the reaction from both our organization, Texans Care for Children, and the campaign whose communications we coordinate, Texas Well and Healthy, in a round-up of important perspectives on the historic Supreme Court ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act.

6.25.12 Organizations Join CLC in Fight to Regulate Payday Lenders
Texans Care for Children has joined with other advocates of fair lending to form a coalition to improve the state's regulation of predatory lending, such as payday and auto-title loans. This report in the Baptist Standard offers more details.

6.21.12 Plan to Open High-Security Lockdown for Violent Youths Being Protested
The Austin American-Statesman reports that Texans Care for Children and other juvenile justice advocates called on the Texas Juvenile Justice Department to take care in creating a new "Phoenix Program" for offenders deemed too dangerous for existing juvenile justice facilities. Our organization and others called for a public hearing on the matter to ensure transparency and accountability for the safety of every youth.

6.21.12 Advocates Ask Juvenile Justice Agency to Delay Decision
The Texas Tribune spoke to Eileen Garcia, our CEO, about our organization's recommendation that the board of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department hold off on making hasty plans for a new program for some offenders. "Garcia said advocates want to make sure the reforms don't take a 'Band-aid' or 'reactive' approach, but truly create meaningful change."

6.12.12 Hogg Foundation Awards $326,436 in Grants to Train Mental Health Policy Fellows in Texas
Texans Care for Children will continue to offer a policy academy for mental health fellows and their mentors and will bring on board a new mental health policy fellow of its own, with support from the Hogg Foundation, The University of Texas at Austin News notes.

6.4.12 Officials Look to Adult Prison to Help Solve Juvenile Security Problems
In a disturbing Austin American-Statesman report, Texas officials float an idea about locking up more children in the most dangerous and least humane environment: adult prisons. The voice of protest in this article is our own Eileen Garcia, who believes child offenders belong in the system that was created to rehabilitate them, which is the juvenile justice one.

5.10.12 Report: Lubbock a Shining Example of What to Do When Working with Children's Mental Health Issues
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal wrote about our report on the state of children's mental health in Texas, including the finding that one of the things working best on the mental health landscape is that local communities are creating solutions that work. Mental health policy associate Josette Saxton notes, "Texas is last among states in mental health spending and last also in mental health treatment for children who need it," and offers several recommendations of how Texas can improve.

5.3.12 Keep Youth Out of Adult Prisons
Jefferson County is failing to take advantage of an option that keeps youth safer, reduces costs, and prevents crime, notes Texans Care CEO Eileen Garcia in a letter to the editor of the Beaumont Enterprise. The option is keeping youth out of adult prisons and in the juvenile justice system where rehabilitation for young offenders is the focus.

4.13.12 Schools Prepare for Anti-Bullying Law
Under a law the Texas legislature passed in 2011, Texas schools have new responsibilities to ensure staff know how to address and prevent bullying. Texans Care for Children believes there is still more that could be done to ensure schools focus on prevention, versus pushing problem behaviors to other schools. Our juvenile justice and mental health policy fellow Lauren Rose spoke to KUT News about how schools can be intentional in addressing bullying in a more comprehensive way. (Learn more here.)

1.14.12 Expect Best of Youth
When it comes to juvenile justice reform, Texas must prepare not only for kids to change, but for our systems to change, explains Texans Care CEO Eileen Garcia in a letter to the editor of the Austin American-Statesman. The letter also corrects an error made by the newspaper in its presentation of data on the number of youth committed to state facilities.

1.8.12 Salvaging Disposable Children
An Austin American-Statesman editorial describes why the reforms happening in the Texas juvenile justice system have big consequences, not only for children but for the state as a whole. The editorial referred to a press release from Texans Care for Children, noting the estimated cost to the state for each incarcerated child is $127,000.

   

 

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