Health and Human Services Commissioner Cecily Young and HHSC program staff told the House Appropriations Committee the agency is making progress on construction, renovations and contracts funded by Senate Bill 30 (2023) and described parallel efforts to expand community and school‑based behavioral health services.

State hospitals and contracts
HHSC said construction and renovation projects are under way for state‑operated and partner‑operated psychiatric hospitals statewide. Michelle Aleto, HHSC chief program and services officer, presented a timeline showing most projects are expected to come online in the next biennium and urged the committee to include operating funds in HB1 to staff and open the new capacity. Aleto said the state will increase inpatient capacity overall even where individual post‑construction bed counts fall at renovated locations because the system is expanding geographically and modernizing older facilities to provide safer, more therapeutic environments.

University consortium and telehealth for children
David Lakey, vice chancellor for health affairs at the University of Texas System and presiding officer of the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium, described the consortium’s programs, many started with ARPA and state funding. Consortium programs include TEACHACT (school‑based telehealth for child mental health triage and short‑term care), CPAN (pediatrics consult access to child psychiatrists), PeriPAN (perinatal consult access for OB/GYN), and workforce expansion programs (child‑psychiatry fellowships and community psychiatric workforce placements).

Lakey said TEACHACT now covers about 78% of Texas K–12 students (roughly 4.3 million children) through participating school districts and educational service centers; the network includes more than 7,000 campuses and 9,000 school districts are represented in some fashion. He reported roughly 88,000 referrals and 237,000 telehealth sessions to date with TEACHACT, and that common presenting problems included anxiety and depression and that roughly 14% of referred students had suicidal concerns. He said the consortium is moving away from ARPA funding for several programs and asked the legislature to consider recurring general revenue for programs the state wants to sustain.

Workforce and program challenges
Lakey and HHSC officials emphasized workforce challenges are a primary constraint — the state lacks enough child and adolescent psychiatrists and trained behavioral‑health clinicians. The consortium and ARPA funds expanded fellowship slots (from 27 to 46 first‑year slots) and trained more clinicians, but leaders warned the ARPA funding stream is temporary. HHSC and the consortium asked the committee to consider funding to sustain proven programs (TEACHACT, CPAN, PeriPAN) and workforce development efforts, noting many ARPA‑funded pilots have shown rapid uptake and demand.

Facilities, forensic waitlists and community services
HHSC presented bed counts and forensic wait‑list data showing improvements in some forensic wait‑list categories after SB 30 and related investments, but officials said gaps remain. HHSC is also investing in community‑based and step‑down services and urged continued funding to expand crisis diversion, mobile response and community placements to reduce pressure on hospitals and jails.

Ending
HHSC and university leaders asked the committee to include operating funds in HB1 for new state hospital capacity and to consider sustaining successful telehealth and workforce programs beyond ARPA. They warned that without recurring funding some of the gains in access and workforce will be difficult to sustain.