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Mental Health in
4.3 million Texans have a diagnosable mental health disorder, including 1.2 million children
Texas ranks 49th in per capita spending on mental health services Over 6.1 million Texans are uninsured Most Texas counties are federally designated mental health professional shortage areas as of March 2010
Source: Texas Department of State Health Services
Of these individuals, 1.5 million are not able to function at work, school, or in the community due to their illnesses
Source: Texas Medical Association
State Hospitals
Community Hospitals
th 78
In 2003, a $10 billion deficit led lawmakers to make serious cuts to mental health programs
Cuts to community mental health services Cuts to state hospital capacity Changed priority populations Cut most Medicaid mental health benefits Eliminated in-home and family support benefit Consolidated state agencies
Results of Cuts
Only those with big 3 diagnoses, which include bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depression, are eligible for services Significant waiting lists for these services Lack of community based services forces individuals into repeated and expensive crisis episodes Lack of intermediate care/step down programs State psychiatric hospital beds increasingly used for forensic commitments, meaning people need to go to jail to get a bed
Crisis driven
Harris County has more children and adults with severe mental illnesses than any other county in Texas
Individuals unable to access community-based services end up in our publicly funded emergency rooms
12.5% (12 million out of 95 million) of ER visits in 2007 were related to mental illness or substance abuse Over 4.1 million visits had mental illness or substance abuse as a first-listed or principal diagnosis 40% of the 12 million resulted in hospital admission, making ER visits for mental illness and substance abuse 2.5 times more likely to lead to hospitalization than visits for all other conditions
Approximately 60% of homeless individuals are mentally ill Half of these individuals also have a substance use disorder
Source: SAMHSA
Harris County Jail is the largest provider of mental health services in the state
About 25% of inmates at HC Jail receive mental health services, which is more than our ten state psychiatric hospitals combined According to the US Department of Justice, the national average in local jails is 16% 80+ inmates at the HC Jail are waiting for a forensic bed at a state psychiatric hospital for competency restoration services
TDCJ estimates the rate of offenders with mental health issues to be at 19% According to the US Department of Justice, incarcerating inmates with serious mental illnesses is roughly 60% more expensive than housing typical inmates
Half of the children in the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department have a diagnosable mental illness
Source: Mental Health Needs Council
55% of the children in the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department have been diagnosed with a substance abuse and/or chemical dependence problem
Source: Mental Health Needs Council
individuals involved, severe mental health and substance abuse disorders cost the Texas economy some $269.343 billion in total spending each year and 1,675,582 permanent jobs. Finding ways to reduce these negative effects is clearly a worthy goal.
Source: Costs, Consequences, and Cures!!! An Assessment of the Impact of Severe Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders on Business Activity in Texas and the Anticipated Economic and Fiscal Return on Investment in Expanded Mental Health Services
80th &
st 81
Legislative Sessions
nd 82
DSHS has identified $134 million in proposed cuts to the public mental health system
$80 million from states 39 publicly supported community mental health centers
Austin, Terrell, San Antonio, Rusk, and Wichita Falls Expected to cut 183 beds, 12% capacity, which have the potential to serve thousands of individuals Expected to cut care to 6,000 people statewide