Integral Care recently launched a collaboration with Crisis Text Line, a national organization that provides free, 24/7 crisis support via text, increasing access to crisis care for people in our community who prefer texting to talking. Since 75% of texters are under 25, the text line is an additional tool that helps youth and young adults who may be struggling. Here’s how it works:

• An individual texts TX to 741741.
• A trained Crisis Text Line counselor receives the text and responds quickly – within 5 minutes.
• The Crisis Text Line counselor helps the individual stay safe and healthy using active listening and suggested referrals – all through text message, using a secure platform.

Crisis Text Line counselors are volunteers who go through rigorous training. A paid professional with an advanced degree in counseling, psychology or social work closely supervises them, monitoring every conversation. Additionally, supervisors have experience in crisis intervention.

Crisis Text Line is an anonymous service, which means they don’t know the location of the person reaching out for help. However, if a texter is at imminent risk of suicide, including ideation, plans, means or timing within 24 hours, a Crisis Text Line supervisor can activate emergency response and identify the location of the individual. Crisis Text Line will contact local law enforcement or EMS to perform a safety check on the individual. In this situation, local law enforcement or EMS might refer to Integral Care or involve our Mobile Crisis Outreach Team. Nationally, Crisis Text Line contacts law enforcement or EMS an average of 20 times per day.

Integral Care continues to provide immediate crisis support over the phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through our 24/7 Crisis Helpline at 512-472-HELP (4357). We are proud to partner with the Text Line, so that people who prefer not to pick up the phone have access to the support they need, when they need it.

Tables and Sponsorships are still on sale.

Join us this year as we honor Dr. Clay Johnston and highlight the partnership between Dell Medical School and Integral Care.

Funds raised this year will go to provide the latest evidence-based best practices that are the critical tools for building recovery for persons with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities who are experiencing a mental health crisis.

New Milestones Foundation raises funds to support Integral Care in meeting the needs of adults, families, and children in our community with mental illness, substance abuse disorders and intellectual and developmental disabilities. We accomplish this by bridging the gaps between what government funds and what enhances Integral Care programs and services and between what we have today in practice and what might be promising practices for the future.

Tickets to event

The HOST team is a partnership between Integral Care, the Austin Police Department, Emergency Medical Services, Downtown Austin Community Court and the Downtown Austin Alliance. An approved increase of funding will cover the cost of a certified peer specialist/peer recovery coach and allow more funding to address immediate needs, like obtaining official ID documents and bus passes.

Find out more in this report from KXAN.

“Mental health services in Austin ISD is an essential part of educating the whole child,” said Tracy Spinner, district director of health services. “We are thankful for dedicated partners like Integral Care who have stepped up to continue services for our students at 16 campus mental health centers. While we are one step closer to supporting our students, the need for additional funds is still present and we are continuing to meet with potential partners to fully fund these services.”

The Austin school board Monday night approved an agreement with Integral Care to keep 16 campus mental health centers open this school year. Read more in the Statesman.

You are invited to the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) forum on Monday, September 24^th from 6:00 – 8:00pm at the University Hills Branch, Austin Public Library (4721 Loyola Ln., Austin, TX).

This forum will have an interactive format where you can:

• Review priorities from the 2018 Community Health Improvement Plan
• Discuss what is important to you

Contact the CHIP team via email at CHACHIP@austintexas.gov  if you have questions.

Integral Care is honored to be one of the few Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) pilot sites in the state of Texas. Through a rigorous application process, Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) selected us as 1 of only 8 sites (among 25 interested centers) that exhibited the highest levels of readiness to participate in the CCBHC certification process. Over the course of a planning year, Integral Care prepared to become a CCBHC through continued partnership with HHSC staff, and in October 2016 received HHSC’s certification.

Becoming a CCBHC pilot site has meant adopting new national guidelines that standardize operations for mental health, substance use, community based and physical health care services. CCBHC standards promote better access to high quality care for people with serious mental illness, those with severe substance use disorders, children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbance and those with co-occurring mental, substance use or physical health disorders. The CCBHC model puts an emphasis on the provision of 24-hour crisis care, culturally competent care for veterans, utilization of evidence-based practices, care coordination and the advancement of the integration of behavioral health and physical health care. As early adopters of CCBHC standards, Integral Care is positioned to help guide the nationwide policy.

CCBHCs are the future of care delivery in our evolving health care ecosystem. By working within the CCBHC model, we are positioning Integral Care for better funding opportunities at the federal, state, and local level. In March, Congress passed an omnibus spending bill allocating $100 million to CCBHCs. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will be distributing those funds via a grants process sometime next month. New CCBHC funding is anticipated to make a big difference in the area of treatment for opioid disorders.

Ultimately, operating as a CCBHC improves care delivery and thus improves the overall health of the people we serve.

U.S. News and World Report shined a spotlight on Integral Care’s integrated care services. The article features an Integral Care client who lives with bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders and benefits from integrated mental and physical health care as well as wellness services. Our client says, “It has really built me up to be a better woman.” The story also features our partners Dell Medical School and CommUnityCare.

Integral Care is excited to announce our FY17 Annual Report. Learn about the work we did last year to support adults and children living with mental illness, substance use disorder and intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Integral Care has released a brand new directory of services. This directory provides descriptions of Integral Care’s many programs and services, plus a map of our locations and other helpful info for our clients and community. Look for English and Spanish versions in our clinics next week.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission recently announced that 14 local communities will receive grant funding to help reduce recidivism, arrest and incarceration of individuals living with mental illness through Senate Bill 292. Integral Care received preliminary notice of an award anticipated to be $2.5M on an annual basis.

Integral Care in collaboration with Travis County, Central Health and the City of Austin proposed to establish a new Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) team linked to permanent supportive housing in our community. FACT is an intensive, multi-disciplinary team-based intervention that stops the revolving door of incarceration for individuals living with serious mental illness. FACT will serve individuals who have been arrested for minor offenses or felonies as well as experienced recurring and lengthy in-patient mental health hospitalizations, most of whom are living homeless in our community. The FACT team will use their unique expertise to serve 90 of the most frequent users of criminal justice, which is expected to reduce the overutilization of emergency services, jail visits and inpatient hospital stays.

Nationally, 2 million people with mental illness are booked into jails each year. In Travis County, 25-30% of individuals in our jail system receive treatment for a mental illness. When individuals are unable to receive the mental health treatment and care they need, symptoms and conditions can worsen. Once a person leaves jail, they may not have access to health care and may have a difficult time finding a job due to a criminal record – both of which can impact access to housing and start the cycle of homelessness, emergency room usage and incarceration once again.

The FACT community-based treatment team will offer access to mental health care, counseling, medications, family education, primary health care, peer support and permanent supportive housing. Once an individual is housed, the FACT team will provide ongoing wrap-around services to support improved health and well-being in order to keep people in housing and out of the criminal justice system.

Please contact Elizabeth Baker, Integral Care’s Practice Manager of ACT and Specialty Services, at Elizabeth.Baker@IntegralCare.org with any questions.