https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/stephen-simpson/The latest news by Stephen Simpson.enFri, 22 Dec 2023 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/22/texas-mental-health-system-challenges/A lack of private providers, a swamped community mental health system, and low insurance reimbursement have cut off many in Texas from basic mental health services.Stephen SimpsonFri, 22 Dec 2023 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/22/texas-mental-health-system-challenges/Elizabeth Ramirez, mother to three children, sits at home in El Paso. After her eldest child experienced a mental health crisis, Ramirez navigated through the confusing and under-resourced Texas mental health system in search for professional help.Elizabeth Ramirez at home in El Paso, Texas.Emily Kinskey for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/12/cdc-suicide-rate-guns-texas-laws/A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed a new record for people using firearms in suicides. Texas gun safety and mental health advocates say the report highlights a need for gun laws the state does not have.Alejandro Serrano and Stephen SimpsonTue, 12 Dec 2023 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/12/cdc-suicide-rate-guns-texas-laws/A billboard about firearm safety is displayed off Highway 130 outside Austin, TX.Pu Ying Huang/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/30/rice-university-founder-statue-remains/William “Willy” Rice, the founder of Rice University, will be buried at his family plot after students called for his removal due to his slave-owning past.Stephen SimpsonThu, 30 Nov 2023 16:47:30 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/30/rice-university-founder-statue-remains/The William Marsh Rice statue at Rice University in Houston on March 11, 2020.The William Marsh Rice statue at Rice University in Houston on March 11, 2020.Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/27/firefighters-mental-health-texas/Department leaders say they recognize that post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues are among the biggest dangers of the job.Stephen SimpsonMon, 27 Nov 2023 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/27/firefighters-mental-health-texas/Firefighters at Fire Station 48 in Houston on Nov. 22, 2023.Houston, Texas: Firefighters on November 22, 2023 at Fire Station 48 in Houston, Texas.Mark Felix for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/28/texas-execution-scott-panetti-sanity/Panetti murdered his in-laws in 1992. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2007 set new court precedent with his case, raising the bar on the constitutional restriction against executing the insane.Stephen SimpsonThu, 28 Sep 2023 13:04:02 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/28/texas-execution-scott-panetti-sanity/Interior of the state's death chamber.Interior of Death Chamber in Texas.Jenevieve Robbins/Texas Department of Criminal Justicehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/27/texas-teens-drug-treatment/Phoenix House is the latest casualty in an escalating funding crisis for Texas treatment centers as the state struggles with startling increases in overdose deaths, particularly among young people.Karen Brooks Harper and Stephen SimpsonWed, 27 Sep 2023 12:04:59 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/27/texas-teens-drug-treatment/The Phoenix House in Dallas.The Phoenix House in Dallas.Phoenix House websitehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/21/texas-prisons-lockdown-inmate-killed/The killing of inmate Billy Chemirmir in the Coffield Unit occurred during a statewide lockdown of prisons, promoted by a rise in inmate homicides. A day before the lockdown, another incident at the same prison resulted in the firings of seven correctional officers and the resignations of another six.Stephen SimpsonThu, 21 Sep 2023 10:24:09 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/21/texas-prisons-lockdown-inmate-killed/Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville in 2013Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville in 2013.Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/14/harris-county-lina-hidalgo-mental-health-leave/The county’s top elected official will be discharged from a mental health facility this weekend and plans to return to work on Oct. 2 after two weeks of outpatient therapy.Stephen SimpsonThu, 14 Sep 2023 14:01:05 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/14/harris-county-lina-hidalgo-mental-health-leave/Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo greets attendees during a Get Out the Vote Rally hosted by the Asian American Democrats of Texas in Houston’s Asiatown on October 15, 2022.Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo greets attendees during a Get Out the Vote Rally hosted by the Asian American Democrats of Texas in Asiatown on Oct. 15, 2022.Briana Vargas for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/06/texas-prisons-contraband-visitors/The state has canceled all visits to Texas prison inmates until a comprehensive search of all 100 correctional facilities for contraband has been completed.Stephen SimpsonWed, 06 Sep 2023 17:21:10 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/06/texas-prisons-contraband-visitors/The Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville in 2013.Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville in 2013.Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/23/texas-schools-fentanyl-mental-health/Historically, anti-drug messaging in schools has failed to acknowledge the mental health reasons that youth self-medicate. Without that key lesson, advocates worry House Bill 3908 will be another D.A.R.E. campaign.Stephen SimpsonWed, 23 Aug 2023 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/23/texas-schools-fentanyl-mental-health/High school students walk to their next class after the bell rings at Elsik Ninth Grade Center in Houston on March 28, 2018.High school students walk to their next class after the bell rings at Elsik Ninth Grade Center in Houston on March 28, 2018.Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/14/university-texas-austin-md-anderson-cancer-hospital/The new medical facility, to be located in downtown Austin, will help expand the University of Texas System’s reputed cancer center outside of the Houston area.Stephen SimpsonMon, 14 Aug 2023 17:55:36 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/14/university-texas-austin-md-anderson-cancer-hospital/The Erwin Center in Austin on Aug. 15. UT-Austin will expand its medical facilities by partnering with MD Anderson Cancer Center to create a new $2.5 billion cancer treatment hub on the site of the center, formerly a multipurpose facility.The Erwin Center in Austin on Aug 15, 2023.Courtesy of Dell Medical School/ADRIA JOHNSONhttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/07/harris-county-lina-hidalgo-depression/Hidalgo said she was diagnosed with the condition last month and aims to return to her post in September. More people across the country have been diagnosed with the condition since the COVID-19 pandemic.Joshua Fechter and Stephen SimpsonMon, 07 Aug 2023 16:59:01 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/07/harris-county-lina-hidalgo-depression/Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo speaks onstage at a protest outside the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting on May 27, 2022, in Houston.Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo speaks on stage at a protest of the NRA Annual Meeting Friday, May 27, 2022, in Houston.Justin Rex for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/14/texas-am-faculty-kathleen-mcelroy-hiring/The university announced the hiring of Kathleen McElroy, a Black former New York Times journalist, but later backtracked on its offer amid conservative pushback.Stephen SimpsonFri, 14 Jul 2023 17:05:28 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/14/texas-am-faculty-kathleen-mcelroy-hiring/A faculty organization at Texas A&M University in College Station said it’s worried the institution has bowed to outside influences in hiring.Texas A&M University in College Station.Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/19/texas-fentanyl-drugs/Lawmakers are passing laws in an attempt to slow the rise in fentanyl overdoses, but drug advocates warn the opioid is mostly a booster for other illegal drugs.Stephen SimpsonMon, 19 Jun 2023 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/19/texas-fentanyl-drugs/A group of counterfeit K56 pills, which contain fentanyl, is displayed as tests are conducted on seized drugs at the Houston Forensic Science Center in Houston on March 29, 2023.A group of counterfeit K56 pills, which contain fentanyl, is displayed as tests are conducted on seized drugs at the Houston Forensic Science Center in Houston on March 29, 2023.Callaghan O'Hare for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/12/texas-school-violence-safety/Threat assessment teams were created to prevent the next school shooting. However, confusion surrounds how these teams operate and what they even do with a child exhibiting threatening behavior.Stephen SimpsonMon, 12 Jun 2023 10:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/12/texas-school-violence-safety/Texas Governor Greg Abbott convenes the third of three roundtable discussions on school safety and gun violence on May 24, 2018 in the wake of the Santa Fe High School shooting that left ten students dead.Texas Governor Greg Abbott convenes the third of three roundtable discussions on school safety and gun violence on May 24, 2018 in the wake of the Santa Fe High School shooting that left ten students dead.Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/08/texas-legislature-health-bills/Pregnant moms on Medicaid will get health care coverage for a year, patients will get more detailed billing and nurses will get help with school loans. But efforts failed to gain steam for legalizing fentanyl test strips, increasing the pool of mental health professionals who accept Medicaid and expanding Medicaid benefits to more Texans.Stephen Simpson, Eleanor Klibanoff and Karen Brooks HarperThu, 08 Jun 2023 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/08/texas-legislature-health-bills/Christa Marek, owner of the Learning Tree child care center in Yoakum, holds her granddaughter at the center on Sept. 13, 2022.Learning Tree owner Christa Marek holds her granddaughter at the Learning Tree childcare center in Yoakum, on Sept. 13, 2022.Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/18/texas-legislature-child-abuse-reports/House Bill 63 is an attempt to reduce the amount of vindictive or false child abuse reports made to the state, but child advocates say it will deter valid reports, too.Stephen SimpsonThu, 18 May 2023 19:07:29 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/18/texas-legislature-child-abuse-reports/A caseworker’s badge hangs off her neck as she prepares to assist on a case for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in June 2018.A caseworker's badge hangs off her neck as she prepares to assist on a case for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) in June 2018.Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/15/texas-schools-mental-health/Federal pandemic aid helped build public school mental health services in Texas. School officials now brace for the expiration of those funds next year. They’re urging lawmakers to create a dedicated funding stream for mental health assistance in schools.Stephen SimpsonMon, 15 May 2023 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/15/texas-schools-mental-health/High school students between classes in the hallway at the high school in Buffalo, Texas, on March 28, 2019.High school students between classes in the hallway at the high school in Buffalo on March 28, 2019.Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/10/texas-mass-shootings-mental-health/Texas still lags nationally when it comes to mental health services and there have been seven mass shootings since Abbott took office in 2015.Stephen SimpsonWed, 10 May 2023 16:28:29 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/10/texas-mass-shootings-mental-health/Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference at Uvalde High School on May 27, 2022.Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a presser at Uvalde High School on May 27, 2022.Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/04/28/texas-mental-health-medicaid/Texas wants to expand mental health services, but many mental health providers do not accept Medicaid because of its lower payment rate.Stephen SimpsonFri, 28 Apr 2023 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2023/04/28/texas-mental-health-medicaid/Demonstrators participate in a mental health rally at the Texas Capitol, organized by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, in 2013.Demonstrators participate in a mental health rally at the Texas Capitol, organized by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, on Feb. 28, 2013.Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune