Travis County officials presented a five-year plan May 19 to broaden youth mental health services, targeting barriers that prevent families from accessing care including high costs, provider shortages and lack of services in outlying areas, according to a summary document presented at the Travis County Commissioners Court.
Twenty-eight children and adults under 24 died by suicide in Austin last year, a decrease from 33 in 2022, Austin Public Health data shows. Suicide remains a leading cause of death for Texans ages 10-34, and 1 in 6 youth ages 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year nationally, the proclamation said.
"We want to make sure everyone can access [care], so people do not have to experience health care by getting arrested," Jeff Richardson, CEO of Travis County mental health authority Integral Care, said during the proclamation ceremony.
The breakdown
The plan, titled "Connecting the Dots for Children's Mental Health," establishes four goals: strengthening family resilience; ensuring services are financially, geographically and culturally accessible; expanding services for children with complex needs; and clearly communicating how to access care, the document shows.
Services are often inaccessible due to cost and shortages of providers who speak families' languages or understand their culture, as well as a lack of services for children with dual diagnoses, the document said.
Families also struggle to meet basic needs amid reduced federal and state funding for health care and education, the plan noted.
Last year, Integral Care served 25,339 residents and responded to 108,405 crisis calls through its helplines while the county invested $14.1 million in mental health and substance use services through contracts in fiscal year 2025-26, the proclamation showed.
What's next
The plan recommends expanding collaborative care in primary care clinics, increasing school-based mental health services, utilizing mobile clinics and expanding telehealth options.
The plan also calls for creating a mental health roadmap to help families navigate local services and providing training to United Way's 2-1-1 Call Center staff on mental health resources.
Kids Living Well, the county's planning body for children's mental health that coordinates more than 40 partner organizations, including Integral Care, Austin ISD and Dell Children's Medical Center, will oversee implementation of the plan through 2031.
