More than a dozen campus-based mental health care facilities that were facing closure in the Austin Independent School District will remain open thanks to partnerships with Integral Care, Central Health, and through donations made to the Austin Ed Fund.

When the school board passed its budget for the 2018-19 school year in June, alarms were raised over a contract with the Seton Healthcare Family that would result in the closure of 16 school clinics. In response, district officials and Integral Care agreed to open the facilities despite the funding gap. Integral Care also agreed to contribute another $500,000 to fund the clinics, and last month Central Health added $420,000 to keep them running. At a charity luncheon last week, Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, announced that donations to the Austin Ed Fund totaling $433,000 closed the funding gap, ensuring students and families have access to counseling services which might otherwise be out of reach.

This article appears in October 19 • 2018.

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