Travel across the state to meet dozens of urban and rural Texans, finding or providing care in innovative programs. Discover why these efforts are needed and what makes them work; then join some of Texas’ top mental health experts to discuss the benefits and challenges of adopting them more widely, and the policy needed to make that happen.
Mental Health Matters is a collaborative project with:
Suport for Mental Health Matters was provided by The Mental Health Awareness Fund of the Greater Houston Community Foundation.
How do we keep people with mental illness out of jail, instead providing them services that are more appropriate for their needs, with more effective outcomes, at less expense?
A roundtable on the topic featuring leading mental health experts, moderated by Alana Rocha from TexasTribune.org, in front of a live audience at KLRU studios, Austin.
How do we provide more effective school-based mental health programs to improve the lives of our most vulnerable population, when budgets are tight and infrastructure may be lacking?
A roundtable on the topic featuring leading mental health experts, moderated by Alana Rocha from TexasTribune.org, in front of a live audience at KLRU studios, Austin.
Service members returning from war are at higher risk for mental health issues. What programs can help them reintegrate and reduce their exposure to substance abuse, homelessness and incarceration?
A roundtable on the topic featuring leading mental health experts, moderated by Alana Rocha from TexasTribune.org, in front of a live audience at KLRU studios, Austin.
Mental illness is the leading cause of disability in the US, resulting in absenteeism, diminished productivity and increased turnover. Which legislative and employer-based policies are supporting workers, to strengthen businesses and the economy?
A roundtable on the topic featuring leading mental health experts, moderated by Alana Rocha from TexasTribune.org, in front of a live audience at KLRU studios, Austin.
When federal mental healthcare shrunk dramatically a few decades ago, community programs were supposed to take its place. Which are working today, in what ways, and can they be affordably replicated?
Across the state, many people with mental illness can’t find, or can’t afford, care. Are there policies and programs to get people effective help at less expense?
Check out these articles from the Texas Tribune and KLRU created for this program, on different mental health policy topics.
According to a Texas Tribune analysis of death records between 2004 and 2013, the rate of suicide was 15 percent higher in Texas counties with an urban population of less than 20,000 people than in more metropolitan counties. Public health experts are looking more closely at the issue.
Criminal justice experts say that determining mental health can be hard for anyone. They say the issues revealed in three cases are key in furthering the discussion in how mental health is gauged when weighing the death penalty for killers.
Texas lawmakers tout recent improvements to the state’s mental health safety net, citing new funding and the expansion of certain programs. But the state still struggles to provide psychiatric care for all patients who need it.
A review of Texas’ foster care system found that an unexpectedly low number of children had accessed mental health care services. State officials hope a new network of clinics will better connect kids with trauma-informed behavioral health care.
For those with the most acute or profoundly disabling mental illnesses, the inability to access ongoing care has a devastating impact on their lives, their families, and their communities, writes Stephen M. Glazier, chief operating officer of the University of Texas Harris County Psychiatric Center.
More female veterans call Texas home than any other state in the country, according to 2015 figures. One nonprofit group in Houston ensures that female veterans get a safe space to receive counseling and learn from one another's experiences.
Amazing characters reveal their mental health challenges and paths to overcome them
Young adults dealing with change and overcoming mental health challenges
Comedians taking mental health and wellness into the spotlight
Interviews with the nation’s leading experts, a co-production with BigThink.com