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Integral Care offers many services that support children, families and school personnel. Services including clinic and community-based programs, crisis care, suicide prevention training and Mental Health First Aid. Learn more by checking out our new flyer.

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Integral Care has been accepted into the National Council Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Mentorship Program. Integral Care will have the opportunity to participate in a newly established model of peer-to-peer sharing. The Mentorship Program runs from August 2020 through the end of July 2021. The National Council is deeply invested in the success of all CCBHCs and created the program to:

• Foster peer-to-peer sharing and relationships amongst CCBHCs
• Establish a mechanism for CCBHCs to exchange ideas and crowdsource solutions
• Elevate the best practices and lessons learned from established CCBHCs

Integral Care was paired with two centers in Texas who are in the early stages of CCBHC implementation. Over the next year, we aim to share knowledge and offer supportive guidance as these centers launch new programs and policies aimed at improving care. In addition to 1:1 mentoring, our staff can participate in quarterly workshops and an online community dedicated to crowdsourcing solutions. According to the National Council, Integral Care’s mentorship is directly contributing to the success and sustainability of the model in Texas and beyond. Overall, the program serves to share knowledge, provide support, and spread solidarity for the CCBHC model.

CCBHCs provide a comprehensive collection of services needed to create access, stabilize people in crisis and provide the necessary treatment for those with the most serious, complex mental illnesses and substance use disorders. CCBHCs integrate additional services to ensure an approach to health care that emphasizes recovery, wellness, trauma-informed care and physical-behavioral health integration.

Integral Care, the Local Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disability Authority for Travis County, recently launched a new Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) program, which will use practical, evidence-based interventions to build health and well-being for adults in Travis County who live with serious mental illness (SMI). The innovative AOT program is designed to improve adherence to mental health treatment plans, which reduces inpatient psychiatric stays and criminal justice involvement – and ultimately helps participants reach their full potential and thereby engage more fully in their communities. The program is a collaboration between Integral Care, Travis County Probate Court, Travis County Clerk’s Office and Dell Medical School’s Department of Population Health at the University of Texas at Austin. It will be funded by a U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grant award of $1 million per year, over the next 4 years. Together, these organizations will construct a framework of well-being through identification, referral, care and treatment of AOT clients who are weathering life’s storms.

“This grant brings together stakeholders across the community who are committed to building a healthier and stronger Travis County for all by ensuring that people living with serious mental illness are able to access and maintain the treatment they need,” said David Evans, CEO of Integral Care. “Together, we will provide intensive, specialized services that support the health, well-being and recovery of over 200 program participants.”

When experiencing a serious mental health condition, it can sometimes be difficult to maintain treatment that supports the ability to function in daily life and in the community. This can contribute to a range of challenges including alienation from family and friends, homelessness, and involvement with the criminal justice system. Studies show that by improving adherence to treatment services, AOT reduces arrests, hospitalization and incarceration of individuals living with serious mental illness by approximately 70%. These interventions save taxpayers 50% of the cost of care and most importantly improve the quality of life for individuals living with SMI. With this new grant funding, AOT will support individuals who have experienced multiple episodes of hospitalization, arrest, incarceration and homelessness due to the challenges of adhering to mental health treatment. Through this program, the Travis County Probate Court, presided over by Judge Guy Herman, which has primary jurisdiction over mental health hearings, will place individuals in court-supervised treatment while they continue to live in the community.

“The Travis County Probate Court is pleased to partner with Integral Care and the Dell Medical School to participate in the newly created Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program, which is designed to provide greater supervision for persons living with serious mental illness once they have left the hospital or jail and returned to the community, in the hopes of lowering the rates of recidivism in our hospitals and jails,” said Judge Guy Herman. “As the Presiding Judge of Travis County’s Probate Court, I am fully aware of the difficulty this population faces after being discharged from a hospital or jail, and I believe this program will fill a gap in service that could make a more stable life for our loved ones. The Probate Court has been attempting to establish an assisted outpatient treatment program for nearly ten years, and this grant will allow it to become a reality.“

Integral Care will monitor the individual’s treatment plan and help ensure their ongoing participation in the AOT program, facilitating their transition from inpatient hospitalization to community-based care through proactive relationship building, case management, therapy, medication, drug and alcohol treatment, and other services that support and maintain recovery. These tools will establish a foundation so clients have the stability to adhere to their treatment. Additionally, collaborative opportunities for clients will include the creation of Psychiatric Advanced Directives (PAD), facilitated by Dell Med. A PAD is a communication tool that promotes patient autonomy giving capacitated adults, living with serious mental illnesses, the legal authority to—in advance of a health care crisis – memorialize their preferences for care and to designate a proxy decision maker.

“Respecting the autonomy of persons living with serious mental illness is the principle upon which this project is built,” said Virginia A. Brown, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Department of Population Health at Dell Med. “Collaborating with Integral Care to help improve the lives of persons living with SMI brings us one step closer to creating a more just and equitable community for all,” Brown said.

Progress happens when partners from different specialties come together to provide the building blocks of health for everyone in our community. Other collaborators include Austin State Hospital, Disabilities Rights Texas, Housing Authority of the City of Austin, NAMI Central Texas, and Travis County Sheriff’s Office.

Integral Care no longer offers ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) services. To find your nearest ECI provider, click here

This summer, SAMHSA awarded Integral Care continuation funding for two ongoing programs: Mental Health Awareness Training for Service Providers & Families of Armed Service Personnel & Veterans ($125,000) and Clinical High Risk Psychosis ($400,000). Integral Care received initial grant funding for these multi-year projects in September 2018.

The Mental Health Awareness Training grant allows Integral Care to provide Mental Health First Aid training, as well as Counseling on Access to Lethal Means, utilization of the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale, and Safety Planning Intervention to families, caregivers, and service providers in contact with armed service personnel, veterans and their families. Through the Mental Health Awareness Training program, Integral Care aims to increase understanding and recognition of the signs and symptoms of mental illness and teach participants how to safely and appropriately respond. Additionally, the program provides information about local resources to help get veterans connected to supports they need, such as crisis services, substance use treatment, counseling, basic needs assistance, housing, and more. Integral Care’s goal is to provide Mental Health Awareness Training to 600 individuals in Travis County by September 30, 2021.

The goal of Integral Care’s Clinical High Risk Psychosis project is to reduce the duration of untreated psychosis for individuals under the age of 25 in Travis County. Since launching the program in 2018, Integral Care has implemented a stepped-care model, utilizing evidence-based screening and assessment and adding a second Coordinated Specialty care team to increase services and improve clinical prognosis and quality of life outcomes. Outreach efforts focus on youth and young adults who are new to services or will soon transition from child to adult mental health services; additionally, staff support youth who are transitioning from child services to adult services by guiding them through the intake process. Through the Clinical Risk Psychosis program, Integral Care screens more than 300 individuals age 16 – 25 annually, as well as monitoring 100 youth and young adults identified to be ultra high-risk.

The changes and concerns that have come with the COVID-19 pandemic are impacting the mental health and well-being of many in our community — with job losses, school closures, health concerns and separation from our loved ones. KXAN talked to Integral Care about how to support someone who may be experiencing a mental health crisis.
https://www.kxan.com/news/simplehealth/tips-on-identifying-and-responding-to-a-mental-health-crisis-during-covid-19/?fbclid=IwAR1R9AYe30k_x6zTVQTDj308qjMuFQFT2_xM0S5i4it4wFJYN7zGZcQcBvU

Our services are part of the public health response to any crisis. Integral Care is continuing to provide services to our community. For the safety of everyone, more services are now being provided by telephone and telehealth. By reducing in-person appointments and providing care by telehealth and telephone, we reduce the potential spread of COVID-19 and help conserve the limited supply of personal protective equipment (PPE). LEARN MORE

In December 2019, Integral Care received two grant awards totaling $13,955 from the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities for the Central Texas African American Family Support Conference (CTAAFSC). The conference, which celebrates its 20^th anniversary in February 2020, focuses on mental health and the African American community. The conference offers a series of workshops, poster presentations, panel discussions, and keynote addresses that aim to destigmatize mental illness and eliminate health care disparities. CTAAFSC provides much-needed awareness and empowerment for a community that is disproportionately affected by mental illness.

TCDD, a longtime supporter of CTAAFSC, provided stipends for two guest speakers: Le’Andria Johnson, a Grammy-winning Gospel recording artist with lived experience of mental illness, and SaulPaul, a “Musician with a Message” whose presentation focuses on the intersection of self-care and artistic expression.  In addition, TCDD provided stipends for 40 individuals with lived experience and their family members to attend the conference at no cost.

In February 2020, Integral Care received a $25,000 grant award from the Montandon Charitable Trust to create a drop-in office space for 40 community-based staff in the Child and Family Services Division. This community workspace will offer opportunities for staff members to work in collaboration, sharing ideas and experiences that can help improve the services we provide to children with mental health, developmental, and behavioral challenges.

Staff who will utilize the drop-in space work with some of our highest need youth populations, including children enrolled in our Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) and Youth Empowerment Services (YES) Waiver programs. While community-based work is essential to meeting the needs of children and families in Early Childhood Intervention and YES Waiver programs, staff members face unique challenges to working outside a clinic.

Building a new drop-in office space is intended to increase staff engagement, build morale, and improve overall health outcomes for those we serve. When staff members have the opportunity to interact – whether in the break room, in a small meeting space, or with a visit to an adjacent cubicle, they can share their knowledge and work collaboratively to improve team performance.