On Wednesday, September 29 at 12pm, join Integral Care and the Central Texas Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for a virtual community forum about youth suicide prevention. Between 2007 and 2018, the national suicide rate among adolescents and youth increased by almost 60% – but there is hope. Prevention is possible when we focus on building protective factors and resiliency and ensuring that families have the education, tools, and resources to take early, meaningful action. Learn more and register today.

The University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School and LBJ School of Public Affairs have released a cost-saving analysis of The Inn, Integral Care’s 16-bed residential treatment program. The study found that The Inn saves taxpayers millions of dollars in public costs while improving outcomes for people experiencing a mental health crisis.

Mental Health Weekly talked to Integral Care about The Inn’s approach.

Suicide numbers for ages 10-24 have been on the rise since 2007.  Integral Care recently produced 4 new short videos addressing teen depression and suicide. One video is for teens, the other for a parent/teacher audience. Both are in English and Spanish. The videos dig into the warning signs and how to reach out for help.

According to a CDC report released in June, emergency department visits for suspected suicide attempts rose among 12 to 25-year-olds between January of 2019 and May of 2021. Among girls 12 to 17, average weekly visits to the emergency department for suspected attempts from February 2021 to March 2021 was 50.6% higher than the same period a year prior. Among boys of the same age, the increase was 3.7%.  It’s important to note that these were attempts, and CDC data for actual suicides in 2020 has not yet been released. Until that data is released, it is unclear the effect of the pandemic and racial reckoning of the past year and a half.

We’d like to thank the Moody Foundation for the generous grant to create these videos. We hope you’ll share them with friends, colleagues, perhaps your child’s school or other organizations.

Our school-based therapist team has 10 easy tips for parents to help support a child’s mental health this back to school season. Download their Top 10 List, print it and post it on the fridge.

Su salud mental es tan importante como su salud física. El miércoles, 19 de mayo a las 12 del mediodía, acompañe a Integral Care y NAMI Central Texas para un foro comunitario virtual en español donde hablaremos de la salud mental en la comunidad latina. Nuestro grupo de expertos hablará de lo que está pasando actualmente en nuestra comunidad y qué puede hacer si usted o algún ser querido necesita apoyo emocional. Otros temas incluyen cómo cuidarse a sí mismo y a su familia, cómo encontrar un consejero que hable su idioma y comparta su cultura, así como recursos sobre salud mental para adultos, niños y sus familias. El grupo incluye consejeros familiares, para niños y adultos, así como una persona que padece de depresión y ansiedad. Habrá oportunidad para que los participantes hagan preguntas, ya sea durante el foro o por anticipado. ¡Inscríbase hoy! 

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The intellectual and developmental disability community is among the hardest hit by the ongoing pandemic. Families are experiencing fatigue and hardship due to limited access to many crucial support services, such as respite care. With an uncertain end to the pandemic, we must focus on supporting caregivers of adults and children living with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  

Experts from across Travis County will explore the needs this community faces, offer tips for caregivers, as well as resources and activities to help adults and children with IDD thrive. We hope caregivers will join us for this important forum intended to provide support and tangible tools to help navigate this challenging time. 

Read more about the panelist and register today

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.