Stigmas, Fear And ICE Keep Residents From Free Mental Health Program

Jennifer Flores found her calling at a young age. Watching and helping her parents tend to her ailing grandparents, Flores says she found herself drawn to work that would have a real impact. For her, that meant the medical field.

“I was like, ‘I want to be a nurse, this is my calling,’” Flores says. “But obviously, things happen.”

Flores now finds herself working in a different kind of medical field: mental healthcare. And she’s stepping into the role during a critical time for the community she’s trying to reach. Her organization is providing free mental healthcare services to Rundberg children, who are already critically underserved when it comes to mental healthcare. But now experts say the threat of immigration enforcement and deportation have increased the need for services while at the same time, making families afraid to seek out resources.

“There’s a lot of stress within the community,” Flores says.

Flores works as a community outreach coordinator at the Austin Child Guidance Center, a nonprofit organization that has provided mental health resources for children in central Texas since 1951. In 2024, the organization received a grant from the City of Austin to provide free services to families in the Rundberg community.

“It's clear that the Rundberg area has been underserved for a number of years in terms of services and access to supports,” says Andy Miller, ACGC executive director.

Reports from other organizations back that up. A 2015 report by the Latino Healthcare Forum on health in Rundberg listed mental health as a major concern for community leaders. The report cited issues with stress and trauma, but noted that stigmas around mental health are a major barrier to access. And those that were interested in services faced additional challenges in accessing services. The report noted patients sometimes had to pay for their own translators and a lack of “culturally competent” healthcare providers. Years later, many of those issues still persist.

“There's still a lot of shame and a lot of secrecy for families that may have a child that is struggling with mental health needs,” Miller says. “It's been really great to have someone like Jenny go into the community, [and] talk to them one-on-one about the services that we provide.”

Flores says ACGC works to connect patients with culturally competent clinicians that best match their needs, whether that be providing care in Spanish or just spending time breaking down what mental health is. But the first point of contact is often Flores, meeting parents at community events or on her weekly block walks around the neighborhood. But in the past few months, new fears have had a chilling effect on her work.

“When I started doing outreach last year, people were more open,” Flores says. “There’s less people, and more people are afraid.”

Flores says she sees less people out in the community, and those she does see are more guarded. She says they are hesitant to answer questions or talk with Flores, especially if they haven’t seen her before. With families she does have rapport with, she says stress has seeped into their day-to-day.

“I've noticed also with the younger children, they're being impacted by the stress of their guardians, of their parents,” Flores says. “Another one is, absences at school. They don't want to show up to school. They're afraid if they come back from home, their parents are not going to be there. They're afraid if they leave home, something might happen to them.”

Researchers have also noted additional mental health stressors impacting immigrant communities. Studies show that new restrictive immigration policies have led to a spike in panic attacks, anxiety and depression amongst immigrants. But the same fears also prevent people from seeking care. One report found that undocumented students were less likely to seek help, and if they did they were reluctant to discuss their immigration status out of fear of being detained.

Miller says fears over immigration enforcement can just compound with stresses that families may already be dealing with.

“It has created a much more ever-present anxiety, in addition to whatever they're already struggling with,” Miller says. “So maybe it's school related issues, but then you layer on top of that, all of the immigration related issues of having families affected by that… It really does create a new layer of stress and anxiety for families that we are definitely seeing.”

Miller says ACGC has assistance programs to help families who feel unsafe driving to therapy appointments. The organization can provide bus passes to reach their 45th Street location if individuals can’t drive themselves. ACGC also offers telehealth appointments, and has a technology lending program if families don’t have internet access or devices for telehealth appointments. But more than anything Miller wants clients to know their information is confidential.

“We do not ask people's immigration status. We do not share information with other entities,” Miller says. “When people come here, they are safe.”

Flores’ dream of becoming a nurse didn’t come true. But her dream of helping others find comfort and healing has flourished in a way she never expected.

“Rundberg is a community that is diverse, but they also face a lot of barriers, whether it's language barriers, cost barriers, transportation barriers,” Flores says. “I'm here to be able to break those and actually connect those services to that community.”