8/20/2008 5:16:12 AM
A densely populated urban area located in north central Texas, Dallas County is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). One of the fastest growing counties in the nation, Dallas County includes the city of Dallas which is the 9th largest city in the United States and the 3rd largest city in Texas.
Community leaders recognize that the county lacks adequate mental health services, jail diversion programs, social service supports, and consumer and family-directed services. Leaders recognized the county lacked adequate 1) mental health and substance abuse services for medically indigent (NorthSTAR services) and 2) peer-to-peer counseling services.
A densely populated area, 2.4 million people live in Dallas County. The community has a large Hispanic population with slightly more than one-third (36%) of the residents being of Hispanic descent. Moderately educated, three quarters (75%) of the population earned a high school degree, the same proportion as all Texans.
Less affluent than neighboring Tarrant County (county seat: Fort-Worth), Dallas County has a median household income of $41,900, similar to the state of Texas as a whole ($41,600). Many of the residents struggle to make ends meet, as nearly two out of ten (17%) residents live below the federal poverty level. Dallas County is a center for the petroleum industry, telecommunications, banking, and transportation. The county possesses a network of interstate highways facilitating the movement of commerce from southern Texas and Mexico north into America's heartland. Workforce shortage challenges focus around issues of recruiting, retaining, and training staff to meet service demands.Collaborative membership is comprised of county commissioners, law enforcement, public health officials, and educators. The group meets monthly to discuss strategies and identify solutions. The collaborative has obtained addition funding beyond the MHT-SIG Grant and voted to contract with researchers to conduct needs assessments and program evaluations. The total annual Dallas County mental health services budget is approximately $300,000.
Goal: Use evidence-based practices to develop consumer-driven, culturally congruent, recovery-focused programs and bridge service gaps for consumers.
Plan: The Collaborative will establish workgroups in the following areas:
The Williams Institute will conduct all evaluations including a needs assessment, feedback session with consumers/family members, and a final formal evaluation. Evaluation components will be funded through a $120,000 grant from Meadows Foundation and in-kind contributions.
Dallas County has developed a detailed plan for community mental health system transformation which includes specific goals and evaluation components. Building on community resources, the collaborative has identified local business leaders to consult on issues of information technology integration and to help them achieve their transformation goals.
Achieving the vision of a transformed Texas mental health system will take collaboration, innovation, and hard work. Each of the eight communities will collaborate with state partner agencies (TWG members), community stakeholders and consumers, and one another to craft solutions to their specific workforce and service challenges. On the path to transformation, these community collaboratives will learn lessons they will be able to share with other Texas communities seeking to transform their own mental health systems.
Ed Miles, PhD, Executive Director, North Texas Behavioral Health Authority
10056 Marsh Lane, Ste 210
Dallas, TX 75220
214.366.9407 ex/112
emiles@ntbha.org