East Texas Counties Developing Regional Mental Health Strategy For Safety Net Services

The East Texas Council of Governments (ETCOG) is working with its 14 member counties and the four local mental health authorities (LMHAs) serving those counties to develop a regional mental health strategy to address county and LMHA concerns about overall lack of funding for safety net services, limited access to services in rural areas, and shortages of mental health professionals. During fiscal year (FY) 2012, the 14 ETCOG member counties spent more than $2.3 million on safety net mental health services; the counties are concerned about a lack of inpatient psychiatric beds, the quality of care patients are receiving . . .