Elon Musk took his chainsaw last month to federal grants for mental health  – including two that provide free mental health counseling to youth in Elko and Humboldt Counties, where access to such services is scarce, according to UNLV’s Dr. Dan Allen, director and principal investigator of the Nevada Rural Mental Health Outreach Program (RHOP). DOGE also eliminated another grant for the mental health needs of homeless children.

Eliminated grants include those awarded to UNLV Partnership for Research, Assessment, Counseling, Therapy and Innovative Clinical Education (PRACTICE), a mental health clinic at UNLV that provides care to populations that have difficulty accessing help, and turns out trained mental health providers in the process.

A bill in the Nevada Legislature would add more mental health professionals in Nevada schools and children’s programs, all to help tens of thousands of children and families who do not have access to care.

A mental health clinic at UNLV that provides care to populations that have difficulty accessing help, and turns out trained mental health providers in the process, is operating on a shoe string and is unsustainable, says its executive director.

A mental health clinic at UNLV that provides care to populations that have difficulty accessing help, and turns out trained mental health providers in the process, is operating on a shoe string and is unsustainable, says its executive director.

Kennedy Jackson, a UNLV theater arts major, still remembers the hummingbird she saw fluttering outside of UNLV’s Beam Hall one year ago. She was walking back from studying for finals, and the campus was abuzz with pre-finals stress and pre-holiday anticipation. But in just a few short hours, the excitement and jitters would turn into utter fear.

Nevada ranks worst in the nation for both overall mental health and youth mental health. To make matters worse, the state has a shortage of health workers in those fields. UNLV hosted a mental health forum Friday to highlight three university-led efforts to improve mental health and the health worker shortage in Nevada.

Among the topics addressed: campus safety, mental health resources, the shooting investigation, a future permanent memorial, and the ways the university intends to move forward following the tragedy.