EDITORIAL: Mental health care reform missing pieces
Fort Worth Star-TelegramJun 03, 2017
Last year, House Speaker
The antiquated system needed an overhaul. The committee was to recommend how this might be achieved.
In the first meeting, Rep.
"What I am really struck by is the level of interest out there in the work this committee is going to do and a real desire to see the Legislature tackle this issue in a meaningful way."
And so it did -- to a point.
More than
About 20 bills were filed to improve mental health care, but House Bill 10, House Bill 11, House Bill 12 and House Bill 13 were the heavy artillery.
Each focused on areas spotlighted by the committee: HB 10 strengthens mental health parity laws, HB 11 focused on early intervention and education in public schools, HB 12 created diversion programs for criminal offenders and HB 13 provides grants for community-based mental health programs.
All four of these areas needed to be addressed for a true mental health care reform. Only two will see the Governor's desk -- HB 10 and HB 13.
With HB 11 and HB 12 dead, the state runs the risk of letting early intervention and diversion programs fall through the cracks.
Early intervention is the best way to tackle mental health issues, and more than half of the nation's criminal inmate population has some mental health issue.
These are the areas that badly need help.
But all is not lost. If signed, HB 10 and HB 13 would pave way for a better state mental health care system.
It's a great start, but there's much more to be done.
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