The Texas Behavioral Health and Justice Webinar Series is a bi-monthly learning opportunity for behavioral health and justice stakeholders to come together to learn about critical topics impacting their community.
Tips & Tricks for Applying for Federal Funding
Resources to Support County Behavioral Health and Justice Strategic Planning
Innovation in Texas’ Behavioral Health and Juvenile Justice Systems
Resources to Support Diversion Center Planning and Implementation
New Resources to Support Competency Restoration Decision Making
New Resources to Support Competency Restoration Decision-Making
The competency restoration system involves multiple stakeholders with different perspectives on how to best balance the needs and safety of people found incompetent to stand trial (IST), victims, and communities. Although there is no one-size-fits-all approach to balancing the competing priorities of stakeholders that serve people found IST, a variety of resources exist to support judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, and behavioral health clinicians in developing systems tailored to local circumstances. In this webinar, participants will receive an overview of the legal processes related to competency restoration, learn about new technical assistance resources developed by HHSC and hear from local competency restoration providers on innovative programs that support access to treatment, enhance local coordination and collaboration, and promote public safety.
CLEs and CE credit hours are offered to webinar attendees.
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Resources to Support County Behavioral Health and Justice Strategic Planning
The Texas Behavioral Health and Justice Technical Assistance Center(TA Center) and the Texas Veterans Commission Veterans Mental Health Department co-hosted a webinar to share new resources to support county level behavioral health and justice system planning.
Topics from this webinar included:
New resources to support behavioral health and justice systems planning for adults, youth and veterans;
New funding opportunities to support implementation of Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) mapping workshop action plans;
Best practices for planning a SIM mapping workshop and implementing SIM mapping workshop action plans; and,
The application process for 2024 Fall/Winter SIM mapping workshops.
Tips & Tricks for Applying for Federal Funding
The February webinar discussed the federal grant application process. Experts with federal tenure will provide guidance on how to submit a well-organized and competitive application.
Innovation in Texas' Behavioral Health and Juvenile Justice Systems
The August webinar focused on behavioral health and the juvenile justice system. Speakers provided an overview of the juvenile justice system and opportunities to connect justice-involved youth with mental illness (MI), substance use disorders (SUD), and intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to community-based care. Specifically, the webinar sought to support participants in:
Better understanding challenges at the intersection of behavioral health and the juvenile justice system, including key population trends;
Mapping out how youth encounter and move through the juvenile justice system using the Texas Youth Sequential Intercept Model and the Texas Family Code;
Learning about promising practices to support early identification, crisis intervention, and diversion to treatment for youth with MI, SUD and IDD;
Learning how to access state resources to support this population, including Youth SIM Mapping Workshops, tailored trainings, and learning collaboratives.
Resources to Support Diversion Center Planning and Implementation
The October webinar focused on resources that support diversion center planning and implementation. This 2-hour training provided participants with an overview of diversion centers, sharing best practices from both rural and urban counties across Texas and other states. Specific topics included diversion center service array, partner engagement, access and eligibility, funding and sustainability, operations and more.
Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI): Best Practices for Outpatient Coordination, Collaboration and Reporting
Texas Health and Human Services hosted a webinar focused on best practices for local mental health authorities (LMHA), local behavioral health authorities (LBHA) and their partners for coordinating, communicating, and completing reporting requirements related to individuals found not guilty by reason of insanity in the community. This 2-hour training provided an overview of the NGRI process, highlighting best practices from counties across Texas. Specific topics include:
An overview of NGRI in Texas, including state trends and resources
A review of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 46C, process
Clinical perspectives on identifying individuals appropriate for outpatient care and supporting them in the community
A review of state reporting requirements
An overview of best practices for planning, communication, and coordination across state hospitals, LMHAs, LBHAs, the courts, and community supervision officers