KOLKHORST GETS MENTAL HEALTH BILL APPROVED

  

The Texas Senate approved a bill on Thursday that would create what Lt. Governor Dan Patrick called the "biggest package for mental health care ever designed" in the country.

He joined bill author and Brenham Senator Lois Kolkhorst at a pre-session press conference to tout the $3.4 billion investment the state is making to increase capacity at mental healthcare institutions around the state.

The Senate plan, in conjunction with billions set aside in the state budget, seeks to address a growing capacity shortage in the state's mental health care system.

Kolkhorst told reporters about the capacity at state institutions following the COVID pandemic going from a shortage of about a thousand beds pre-COVID to nearly 2,500 today.

Almost all of them are "forensic beds", which is space required for patients who are being restored to mental competency to stand trial.

Capacity is only part of the problem, Kolkhorst said that the state has room for another 600 patients, but lacks the personnel to staff it.

SB 26, in conjunction with the state budget, will add just under 1,000 new beds to the state system. Many of the beds are set for underserved rural areas.

Institutional staff would get a pay raise of just under 40 percent, which Kolkhorst said is already attracting staff to these positions.

The bill includes transparency measures like performance audits and would create a reintegration program for people who transition out of institutional care as they get better.

State officials will also look at the distribution of beds and may relocate capacity depending on need and staff levels.