Williamson County fills mental health gaps with community-based programs

Williamson County’s investment in BTCS—which receives funding from the state, matching grants and other counties it serves—is substantially less than it would cost the county to provide the same services, said Kathy Pierce, Precinct 2 executive assistant and behavioral task force chair, in an email.

In the past year, five BTCS programs have saved Williamson County millions of dollars through programs which divert emergency calls, restore inmates to competency—or the ability to stand trial—and more.

Diversion Center

When an individual in crisis has committed a nonviolent offense, a law enforcement officer may choose to take them to the BTCS Diversion Center to receive appropriate care and mental health resources, Pierce said.

“This facility also helps get the law enforcement officer quickly back onto the street, which helps improve public safety,” Pierce said in an email. “Providing this service also helps avoid dispatching emergency resources that are not necessary for a call, saving taxpayers' money.”

It takes about 11 minutes for law enforcement to drop off an individual, brief BTCS staff and get back on the street, BTCS CEO Mike Maples said. From April 2024-March 2025, the Diversion Center had 1,307 people admitted, 49% of whom got transferred to an outpatient facility or back home.

“Before the Diversion Center, they all went to the hospital for about a week,” Maples said. “This has created an option that saves money by getting them to the right place at the right time.”

Precinct 3 County Commissioner Valerie Covey said the county jail population has not increased despite rapid population growth seen countywide due to BTCS programs. Some neighboring counties, such as Travis County, treat all hospitals as mental health hospitals, Covey said.

“That means that they drop off people, and they say, ‘We're done,’” Covey said. “That has led to extreme difficulty for those medical hospitals.”

At a May 14 Austin Chamber of Commerce event, Travis County Judge Andy Brown said likely more than half the inmates in Travis County jails have “significant undone mental health needs.”

“Right now, the Travis County Jail is the largest mental health facility in Travis County, which is just messed up on so many levels,” Brown said.

Brown said he’s speaking with state representatives about building a mental health diversion center and a psychiatric hospital on a piece of land near the Austin State Hospital.

“I think this is something that really would change what we're seeing in Austin and Travis County in terms of people not having their mental health needs met,” Brown said.

Jail-based competency restoration program

People who have been determined incompetent to stand trial often wait 1-2 years in jail for a state hospital bed, which costs the county $549 per day, according to the presentation.

Jail-based competency restoration programs provide competency restoration services in a jail space separate from the jail’s general population, according to Texas Health and Human Services’ website. Participants can receive mental health and substance use treatment, along with education services for those found incompetent to stand trial.

On average, jail-based competency restoration program participants are restored to competency in 38.7 days. From April 2024-March 2025, the program had 33 Williamson County participants.

“That's pure cost savings there by the fact that we can identify them in jail and restore in under 40 days, and then they can have their day in court as designed right away,” Maples said.

Members of the program are placed in pods and can work mock trials together to help gain a better understanding of the justice system, Pierce said.

“It's better for the inmate, it's better for the family,” Pierce said. “It gets them the help that they need and helps them get through the justice system.”

911 dispatch

BTCS mental health representatives embedded in 911 dispatch can respond to certain calls when Emergency Medical Services or law enforcement isn’t needed, Maples said.

“The next time you call 911, you may hear ‘Fire, EMS, police or mental health?’” Maples said. “That's a pretty unique aspect of Williamson County.”

From April 2024-March 2025, BTCS dispatchers took 98 calls diverting first responders and 327 calls assisting first responders. By diverting first responders, the county saves about $1,367 per call, according to the presentation.

“Having resources available to divert nonviolent, emergency calls is important because it helps reduce the number of people taken to the jail and to local emergency rooms,” Pierce said in an interview with Community Impact.

Mobile crisis outreach team

The mobile crisis outreach team dispatches first responders into the field to de-escalate issues with individuals face-to-face. In the past year, the team received about 4,000 calls which amounts to almost five per day, Maples said.

This year, the team developed a youth response team which has special-trained responders adept at handling youth cases.

Prior to the mobile crisis outreach team, callers would be directed to emergency rooms or hospitals for support.

Youth respite

In monthly behavioral task force meetings, BTCS identified a need for young people to be temporarily separated from their families due to conflicts. To close the gap in the system, officials created the youth therapeutic respite program in Round Rock using American Rescue Plan Act funding.

“It doesn't help to help a child and then put them back in the same environment that might have caused or led to the problem,” Covey said. “It's been very successful.”

Before the program launched, Covey said children with Child Protective Services were sleeping in offices or hotels because there wasn’t a place for them. Maples said BTCS offices were recently remodeled into a 16-bed youth facility for kids 5-17 years old with intellectual disabilities, autism and mental health needs.

What else?

Additional programs Williamson County offers through BTCS include:

• An adult crisis respite unit
• Private psychiatric bed funding
• Homeless prevention with Community First! Village
• Residential withdrawal management
• Recovery support groups
• Family court care coordination
• Assessment services for veterans treatment

BTCS also provides services in Burnet, Caldwell, Bastrop, Fayette, Gonzales, Guadalupe, and Lee counties, Pierce said.

As a chair on the Williamson County Behavioral Task force, Pierce helps coordinate regular meetings with impacted groups. The data-driven task force uses justice records, financial data and local input to identify gaps in providing mental health services to citizens in the county, Pierce said in an email.

What's next?

Construction to remodel the rest of BTCS’s Round Rock campus is underway. This will include building another 16-bed residential unit for Bluebonnet’s youth step-down program, according to the presentation. The $4.5 million project will be funded through a state grant and open in 2026, Maples said.