TEXAS FOUNDATION OFFERS HOTBHN FIVE-FIGURE AWARD FOR CRISIS RESPONDER PROGRAM

The Moody Foundation is offering $50,000 to the Heart of Texas Behavioral Health Network (HOTBHN) to fill the needs provided by a new crisis response program.

The WaCo-Responder Program will bring together resources in the effort to create a coordinated and unified Behavioral Health response that is both dynamic and responsive and can comprehensively support the various needs of vulnerable individuals interfacing with the 911 system who require urgent/emergent/immediate Behavioral Health services. The main overarching goals for this proposal include:

  • The buttressing of dynamic and responsive programming that allows for the strong collaboration of the 911 system, local Law Enforcement, and the Heart of Texas Behavioral Health Network.
  • Improving general Behavioral Health outcomes for individuals experiencing Behavioral Health crisis episodes.
  • Preventing unnecessary jail detentions for persons suffering from mental health issues.

Objectives also include curtailing the number of calls requiring Law Enforcement response and co-responses, reducing hospitalizations, decreasing 911 call times, and providing a more direct route to Behavioral Health/IDD crisis intervention services. The WaCo-Responder Program will also aid in reducing the burden on Law Enforcement and 911 dispatch, thus allowing more availability to address non-Behavioral Health-related crises in the community.

“The ability to embed mental health professionals within the local 911 dispatch process is not only an exciting development for mental health support in our area,” said Ron Kimbell, Director for HOTBHN Child & Adolescent Behavioral Health Services through the Klaras Center for Families. “It will also significantly improve our local emergency response system, and more importantly, it will improve the mental health outcomes for individuals living in our community.”

“The WaCo-Responder Program will offer additional much-needed support to vulnerable individuals in need of Behavioral Health services, especially those individuals experiencing a crisis,” said Tom Christian, Director of Grants and Special Projects for HOTBHN. “This program facilitates HOTBHN’s partnership with local Law Enforcement and assists local Law Enforcement in offering Behavioral Health-sensitive services to the broader community.”

The Moody Foundation, based in Galveston, Texas, has funded projects and programs that better communities for more than 80 years. From the Moody Foundation website, “As a family, our stories have fueled our mission, and our grantees continue to inspire us across the arts, education, environment, health and social services.”

Contact:

Tanya Ledesma,

Public Information Coordinator

tanya.ledesma@hotbhn.org

Cell: (254) 640-5229