Texas lawmakers approve bills on chaplain counseling and school library material.
Unlicensed religious chaplains will be allowed to work in Texas public schools under a bill passed by the Texas Legislature. The bill allows Texas schools to use safety funds to pay for unlicensed chaplains to work in mental health roles. Volunteer chaplains will also be allowed in schools. The bill could deepen the state’s youth mental health crisis by providing students with unproven, lightly supervised and nonscientific counseling that treats common childhood problems, such as anxiety, as “sins” or issues that can merely be prayed away.