Mental health and substance use challenges continue to shape the daily reality of far too many Texans. Every day, people experiencing mental health crises end up in emergency rooms, encounter law enforcement or cycle through jails because the right care was not available at the right time. The human cost is enormous — and so is the strain on public systems.
Texas already has a proven solution: the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) model, where help with a mental health or substance use crisis, and a doorway into longer-term treatment and support, is available 24/7, regardless of a person’s ability to pay. We encourage Congress to protect, sustain and expand this successful model.
At Bluebonnet Trails Community Services, this model has transformed how we respond to people in crisis. When someone calls 911 in Williamson County, they are asked a question that is still rare across the country: “Fire, EMS, police, or mental health?” That last option connects callers directly to trained mental health professionals.
Before this approach was in place, too many people experiencing a mental health crisis ended up in emergency rooms and jail cells that were never designed to help them. Today, thanks to the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic model, we have a single doorway into comprehensive care that includes crisis response, therapy, substance use treatment, primary care, and social services. Additionally, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline call centers in Texas connect with these clinics to ensure appropriate crisis response.
As an early adopter of this model, Bluebonnet Trails now serves more than 35,400 people each year across Central Texas, in Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Lee and Williamson counties. Our work in partnership with county leaders, law enforcement and emergency responders is measurable and meaningful. Over a six-month period, Bluebonnet Trails helped reduce jail time for 121 individuals, saving taxpayers more than $300,000. Nearly 100 people were diverted from uninsured hospital stays, avoiding almost half a million dollars in uncompensated care. Dozens more were steered away from emergency rooms, easing the burden on hospitals and first responders while saving hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Most importantly, these individuals received the care they needed, instead of being pushed into systems ill-equipped to meet their needs. For law enforcement, it means fewer people cycling through jails. For hospitals, it means more capacity to treat medical emergencies. For taxpayers, it means smarter, more efficient use of public resources.
The impact extends even further. At the Williamson County Jail, our services help individuals restore competency to stand trial in an average of just 40 days, reducing costly delays and ensuring timely access to justice.
That is why strengthening the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic model must remain a priority. U.S. Rep. August Pfluger recently introduced legislation to improve and expand this model. The House Ensuring Excellence in Mental Health Act follows the Senate version that Sen. John Cornyn introduced in December. These bills would allow these health clinics to help more people by expanding their primary care services and formalizing coverage through Medicare.
Both bills have bipartisan support. But that alone does not guarantee passage, and failure to act would be a mistake. Too many Texans still struggle with mental health and substance use challenges. Too many families are searching for help. And too many communities are bearing the human and financial costs when that help is not available.
Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics offer a path forward. They provide better outcomes for patients, reduce pressure on jails and hospitals and deliver significant savings to taxpayers. Most importantly, they ensure that people in crisis are met with care instead of consequences.
Texas has shown what works. Now policymakers have the opportunity to sustain it.
Mike Maples is CEO of Bluebonnet Trails Community Services.