In the wake of the tragedies in Uvalde and Buffalo’s East Side, there is a need for mental health care for families, for survivors, and for the community as a whole.  Yet tragedies like these also highlight inequities in mental health care access for communities of color, where the data shows that people of color are less likely to access mental health treatment than white folks.  

To explore the importance of culturally competent mental healthcare and the need for expanded mental health care access in communities of color, we speak with Luis Zayas, dean of the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin.