message from chair
o’neill
My tenure as Chair of the Meadows Institute happened to coincide with COVID-19, school and work shutdowns, global economic upheaval, a national discussion on race and policing, and a once-in-a-lifetime freeze across Texas that left people without power and water for days, if not weeks.
In short, these were two years that underscored the urgent need for the kinds of systemic improvements in mental health that are our mission here at the Institute.
If there has been a bright spot, it’s simply this: Texas is in a much better place than it once was to address the mental health issues these crises created or exacerbated.
For example, the nation-leading Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) program provides a direct line for schools to talk to mental health professionals about how best to approach mental health care for their students.
Awareness of the importance of mental health has never been greater, especially with organizations like the Trauma and Grief Center at The Hackett Center spreading the word about how trauma affects children and what we can do to ease their suffering.
And the Texas Legislature continues to step up in a big way, funding everything from historic investments in children’s mental health to community-based programs to a complete redesign and rebuild of the State Hospital System, including new hospitals in Dallas and the Panhandle.
I will forever be proud of the contributions the Meadows Institute has made in our efforts to improve mental health care in Texas and the United States, even as we remind ourselves there is always more to do.
We need to remember that our work has no finish line. There isn’t going to be a time when we aren’t facing disasters of one kind or another, whether natural or man-made. What we can do is ensure that, when traumatic events occur, we are even more prepared to address them at the community, state, and national levels.
To accomplish this, we must be steady. We must be innovative and bold. And we must be relentless in our efforts.
That’s the only way we can achieve our goal of ensuring all Texans who need mental health care can get it when and where they need it.
In October, I passed the chair to Linda Perryman Evans, whose efforts and accomplishments are well known throughout our state and nation. In her capable hands, our important work will continue and will grow beyond what we could have imagined when we started this journey a mere eight years ago. Countless lives will be improved, and saved, as a result.
Thank you,
Harriet O’Neill, JD
Chair
October 2019 – October 2021
message from president & ceo
andy keller
Even before COVID-19 hit, mental illness—particularly among young people and young people of color—was at a crisis point. In the decade leading up to 2019, suicide deaths became the second-leading cause of death for youth and young adults, with record increases among young Black Americans and across communities of color.
The fallout from the COVID pandemic has increased stress on us all, putting these already struggling groups at even greater risk.
Underlying indicators of depression and anxiety in America have skyrocketed and stayed there, remaining more than three times higher than the pre-pandemic baseline, affecting more than two in five youth and young adults.
The number of people seriously considering suicide doubled, as has the rate of pediatric emergency room visits related to suicide.
Thankfully, we also showed in 2021 that there are steps we can take to address this situation and help more people now.
Leading Texan Lyda Hill stepped up in a big way in mid-2021 by awarding the $10 million Lone Star Prize to fund the Lone Star Depression Challenge, which will help over 1 million Texans recover from depression in the next several years and save over 1,000 Texans from death from suicide. The mechanism of the Challenge is simple: add mental health professionals to primary care treatment teams and personalize care by measuring its results.
This approach is called the Collaborative Care Model, and every commercial plan and Medicare have paid for it for years, and the Texas Legislature added it to our Medicaid program last legislative session.
But while health plans will pay for it, health systems face start-up costs and competition from other health priorities, from COVID to IT upgrades, so the Lone Star Depression Challenge will help them overcome that inertia and re-tool in months rather than decades.
Texans are also showing that communities can offer help rather than confinement to people suffering mental health emergencies. Dallas County took its Multi-Disciplinary Response Team (MDRT) program – RIGHT Care – citywide, and communities like Austin, San Antonio, and Galveston in Texas and Chicago nationally are implementing MDRT so people in mental health crisis get the help they need and never enter a jail or the emergency room.
We face tremendous challenges in 2022, but Texans are showing the world that solutions exist and communities can enact them now. All it takes is the collective will to do what we know works and work together to create more effective and equitable systems of care for mental health and addiction.
Andy Keller, PhD
President and Chief Executive Officer
Linda Perryman Evans Presidential Chair
We face tremendous challenges in 2022, but Texans are showing the world that solutions exist and communities can enact them now. All it takes is the collective will to do what we know works and work together to create more effective and equitable systems of care for mental health and addiction.