A mayoral task force says local mental health services are not meeting demand.
In a report released Monday, Mayor Will Wynn's task force identified challenges and gaps in serving Travis County's mentally ill.
The report specifically calls for improved
 | | hospital-based psychiatric emergency care |
| | affordable housing for the very poor |
| | balance between privacy and public discussion of mental health issues |
| | training for providers, patients and families |
| | efforts to ease the stigma of mental illness |
| | wider access to medication |
The lack of affordable housing in the Austin area paired with budget cuts to social services leaves more of Austin's mentally ill on the streets.
"When we have a lack of psychiatric beds, when we have a lack of housing, even interim, transitional housing … When we don't do a good job of raising public awareness, all of it compounds itself," Wynn said.
The group also found there are plenty of agencies and organizations involved in mental health services, and that they are generally cooperative. But the system can also be fragmented and hard to navigate.
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Mayoral task force
Mayor Will Wynn's mental health task force identified challenges and gaps in serving Travis County's mentally ill.
 
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The task force identified 39 criteria that would make Austin a mentally healthy community. Those include a solid infrastructure, coordinated policies, improved education and expanded programs.
The report said Medicaid and State budget cuts compound the problem. In 2003, the Legislature changed the eligibility requirements for people who can receive low-cost mental health treatment. They also cut $14 million from community mental health centers.
"Costs continue to go up and the allocation for the services we're providing aren't going up, they're going down, so again the squeeze is happening," David Gomez of the Austin Homeless Resource Center said.
Health care providers like Gomez say the city's report is a good start. But its findings confirm what he's known all along - that there's still work to be done to meet the needs of Austin's mentally ill residents.
Members of the task force and the Mayor agreed a top priority would be to create a 24-hour psychiatric emergency room in an existing Austin hospital.
The group set a two-year timetable to accomplish about half of the objectives. The rest are six-year goals. A monitoring committee will oversee the process and progress for the next five years.
Wynn created the task force in August 2004.
