UT wins grant to improve mental health

The University of Texas’ Dell Medical School, in conjunction with Integral Care and other programs across the university, will use a $1.8 million grant to help boost mental health services in Austin and Travis County. The money comes from the Health Resources and Services Administration, and will be divided into chunks of $440,000 allocated over four years. Those dollars will “support a cross-campus collaborative called the Integrated Behavioral Health Scholars program,” the medical school said in a statement yesterday. Teaming up with the school’s Department of Psychiatry is the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, the School of Nursing, and the College of Education’s Educational Psychology program. “With this support, 84 graduate and professional students — working in fields ranging from social work to nursing to psychology and psychiatry — will be trained to deliver culturally and linguistically competent behavioral health care,” the release continued.