AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation today released a paper by Mental Health Policy Fellow Kate Murphy and Center for Health Care Policy Director John Davidson examining models for effective delivery of mental health care in Texas. The paper, Transformational Treatment: Mental Health Care Delivery in Texas, presents an analysis of the current delivery systems and proposals for improvement.
“Currently, most programs designed to treat mental illness cause or encourage dependence on government assistance,” said Murphy. “Any assistance given to people with mental illness should be premised on recovery because many can and do recover. Therefore, our policy responses should help individuals move closer to recovery and self-sufficiency. One way to do that is with integrated systems of care that ultimately help people take responsibility for their care and live independent, dignified, meaningful lives.”
“Homelessness often involves some combination of mental illness and substance abuse, and makes for one of the most difficult public policy challenges that communities face,” said Davidson. “To tackle it, policymakers need to focus on treatments and services that have the potential to transform individuals’ lives. That of course begins with an individual’s willingness to work at recovery and sobriety, with the ultimate goal of achieving self-sufficiency. Some programs here in Texas do just that, and they should be model for other communities to emulate.”
To read the full paper, please visit:
https://www.texaspolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Murphy-Davidson-TX-Mental-Health.pdf