UTRGV receives $2.2 million in grants for mental health services

John Cornyn

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn announced Wednesday that the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley was awarded two federal grants for more than $2 million.

The two grants, totalling $2,238,994, will be used to train school counselors, social workers, psychologists or other mental health professionals qualified to provide school-based mental health services.

According to a news release from Cornyn’s office, the funding is in addition to $1 million in grants awarded to UTRGV in December as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Mental Health Service Professionals Demonstration Program.

The program was authorized by Cornyn’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was signed into law on June 25 of last year.

“No parent should fear for the safety of their student when they drop them off at school, and no student should be afraid when they walk into the classroom,” Cornyn said in the release. “In the aftermath of the tragedy in Uvalde, I’m grateful that meaningful solutions are starting to be delivered through this funding to prevent violence, provide training to school personnel and students, and hire additional mental health counselors in Texas schools.”