“I’m excited about what the future holds”

Meadows Institute expert hails Texas’ record of innovation at Department of Education conference on collegiate mental health

Meadows Institute senior fellow for strategic partnerships, Phil Ritter (second from left), participates on a panel at the Department of Education’s “Securing the Mental Health of America’s College Students” conference 

When James Kvaal visits colleges campuses around the country, the U.S. undersecretary of education said he is struck by how often students bring up mental health concerns to him, he told the audience at an April 23 summit on “Securing the Mental Health of America’s College Students” held on the Washington, D.C., campus of Johns Hopkins University.

“We’ve witnessed a surge of anxiety, depression and other mental health disorders, underscoring the urgent need for action,” said Kvall, pointing to the “minefield of stressors” young people must navigate today, from academic pressure to the growing dominance of social media in our personal lives.

Despite the nature of the youth mental health crisis, there is reason for hope, said panelist Phil Ritter, vice chair of the board of trustees of Dallas College and a senior fellow at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.

“I’m excited about what the future holds in terms of innovation. If ever there was an area that was ripe for innovation, the intersection of higher ed and mental health is one of them,” said Ritter.

Meadows Institute senior fellow for strategic partnerships, Phil Ritter, at the Department of Education’s “Securing the Mental Health of America’s College Students” conference 

Ritter was one of three panelists in a session called “This IS Texas,” that highlighted Texas’ historic investments in student mental health and the role the Meadows Institute has played in helping to guide that progress.

Moderated by USA Today education reporter Alia Wong, the panel also featured Gilberto Becerra, associate vice chancellor at Alamo Colleges District, and Kay Trent-Pierce, a student at West Texas A&M University.

“There’s been a very, very strong bipartisan consensus around mental health in the past 10 years that has underpinned a lot of the change that has occurred there,” Ritter said, pointing to numerous examples, including  the advent of statewide telehealth networks like TCHATT, which provides telemedicine and telehealth programs to school districts to better identify and assess student mental health needs and provide access to mental health services through regional “hubs” supported by Texas medical schools.

The role of philanthropy in driving those changes cannot be overlooked, added Ritter. Philanthropic investment in mental health has been “a key factor in terms of capturing the legislature’s attention,” Ritter said.

Noting that the Meadows Foundation has prioritized mental health for “at least the past 25 years,” Ritter described the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute as an “institutional agent” for systems change in Texas and beyond.

Said Ritter: “The Meadows Institute has been going into communities and understanding what is happening and what does the system look like today. What is an ideal system that you can shoot for? And how do you create collaborative planning processes to reach that ideal system of care in your community?”

Watch the full recording of the conference here: https://www.ihep.org/event/mental-health-livestream