The Uvalde County Commissioners Court considered several agenda items pertaining to the Robb School Massacre which occurred on Tuesday, May 24th, 2022.
Those items included a request by 38th District Attorney Christina Busbee to place an agenda item for the commissioner’s court to consider and act upon contact with Ecumenical Center for Education, Counseling and Health as a sub-grantee of the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Grant for the Uvalde Resiliency Center.
According to the Equal Justice USA website, “The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 12, 1984, establishing the Crime Victims’ Fund. Millions of dollars are deposited annually into the fund from criminal fines, penalties, forfeited bail bonds, and special assessments collected by the federal government. Crime Victims Fund dollars don’t come from taxpayers. They come from people or corporations convicted of federal crimes.”
According to a statement provided to the court, the Ecumenical Center is the only nationally accredited center in Texas
THE ECUMENICAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION, COUNSELING AND HEALTH would under the terms of the contract with Uvalde County would provide the following services:
” As a Subcontractor in the Uvalde Together Resiliency Center, Victim Assistance Mass Casualty Response, Grant# 4577301, under the Office of the Texas Governor, Sub-Contractor will provide services as outlined below:
Services for Uvalde community members, to include evidence-based treatment modalities offered by culturally competent professional staff. Acceptable counseling formats include, but are not limited to, individual, group, family, trauma, grief, post-traumatic stress disorder, couple, and play therapy, except as otherwise provided here. Psychological testing, psychiatric evaluations, biofeedback, and telehealth services may also be provided. Counseling will utilize evidence-based modalities and techniques and will be faith-sensitive according to the clients’ beliefs and expectations. The number of sessions provided shall be determined by the treating professional and be dependent on the diagnosis, client progress, and treatment modality used, but sessions shall occur a minimum of once per month for each client.
Client eligibility must be verified by one of several means: Texas driver’s license showing address in Uvalde County, utility bill, or school record. Eligibility documentation will be kept in the client’s chart. SubContractor owns the client’s record and will ensure the client intake paperwork and session documentation meets all the requirements of federal and state laws as well as Client’s standards.”
Dr. John Holcomb who survived the November 5th, 2017 Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church massacre, spoke to the commissioners about the Ecumenical Center providing much needed counseling and support for him following the death of his wife Crystal at that church massacre.
