Texas established the Statewide Behavioral Health Coordinating Council under House Bill 1, passed by the 84th Legislature in 2015, to ensure a strategic statewide approach to behavioral health services. The SBHCC coordinates behavioral health services across state agencies and includes representatives from state agencies and institutions of higher education that receive state general revenue for behavioral health services.
Core Responsibilities
The council’s core duties include developing and monitoring implementation of a five-year statewide behavioral health strategic plan, developing annual coordinated statewide behavioral health expenditure proposals, and annually publishing an updated inventory of behavioral health programs and services funded by the state. The SBHCC is chaired by Courtney Harvey, Ph.D., who serves as Mental Health Statewide Coordinator and Associate Commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission’s Office of Mental Health Coordination.
The council membership includes representatives from across Texas’s health and human services landscape: directors from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium, Texas Department of Agriculture, University of Texas Health Science Center—Houston, Texas Veterans Commission, Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Department of State Health Services, and specialized representatives from university health centers, juvenile justice, the military, civil commitment, workforce development, and the criminal justice system. The SBHCC meets three times per year, with meetings scheduled for February, August, and November.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.hhs.texas.gov/about/advisory-committees/statewide-behavioral-health-coordinating-council