3
Justice
AND Health
2023
HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The Meadows Institute partnered with police departments, 911 emergency call centers, hospitals, local government agencies, and behavioral health clinicians to improve crisis response systems with proven programs that ensure public safety and individual well-being. The Meadows Institute kept more people experiencing a mental health crisis out of jail, connected them to needed services, and expanded access to mental health support for thousands of Texas police officers.
A Voice and a Choice in Emergency Call Response
Alternative Response Teams prioritize well-being when responding to mental-health related 911-calls and ensure that the right people show up to offer compassionate help. Instead of relying exclusively on law enforcement, highly trained first responders are paired with clinicians or other specialized professionals based on the specific needs of each crisis situation. The diverse expertise of each team ensures a simultaneous focus on public safety and health, reduces unnecessary hospitalizations and arrests and strengthens partnerships between law enforcement and communities. “The question needs to shift from ‘Why did we send police?’ to ‘Why did we only send police?’”
A Safe Place to Call for Help
In 2023, the Meadows Institute launched the Person-Centered Triage Approach National Collaborative, comprising call centers that collectively serve 1.75 million people in Austin, Texas, Tucson, Arizona and the greater Cleveland, Ohio metro area and neighboring Geauga County. To support this work, the Meadows Institute received the largest grant awarded by the American Arbitration Association-International Center (AAA-ICDR) in 2023.
The Meadows Institute’s non-partisan data, analysis, and policy guidance informed the 88th Texas Legislature’s allocation of $90 million for the Mental Health Grant Program for Justice-Involved Individuals, a $30 million increase from the previous year. The program will reduce recidivism, arrest and incarceration among people with mental illness.
Multidisciplinary Response Teams are supported in part by The $21 million in federal funds awarded in 2023 for projects that provide essential crisis services to at-risk populations within Texas communities. The federal funds were made possible by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, co-authored by U.S. Senator John Cornyn and strongly supported by the Meadows Institute.
Putting Health First in Crisis Response
In 2023, the Meadows Institute grew the Multi-Disciplinary Response Team (MDRT) model for emergency response in three major cities and a public transit system. Collectively, 1.57 million residents and light rail riders are now served by the MDRT model.New Multidisciplinary Response Teams
Galveston, Texas
Compassionate Open Access to Services and Treatment (COAST)
Dallas, Texas
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Cares
Chicago, Illinois
Opioid Response Team (ORT)
Expanded Multidisciplinary Response Teams
Austin, Texas
Coordinated Access to Resources and Essential Services (CARES)
Successful Multidisciplinary Response Teams
Dallas, Texas
Rapid Integrated Group Healthcare Team (RIGHT)
Abilene, Texas
Community Response Team (CRT)
El Paso, Texas
Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)
San Antonio, Texas
Specialized Multidisciplinary Alternate Response Team (SMART)
Supporting Law Enforcement Heroes
For too many years, Texas experienced more death by suicide among law enforcement officers than any other state in the nation. The Meadows Institute is preventing officer suicide and ensuring that those we entrust with keeping us safe can access lifesaving mental health care. The Meadows Institute helped create the Texas Law Enforcement Peer Network (TLEPN) in 2019 to pair trained peer officers with law enforcement professionals seeking support after a community crisis or in response to routine on- and off-the-job stressors.
In 2023, the Texas Law Enforcement Peer Network established partnerships with 20 regional police academies, hosted 34 training classes and trained 313 students and 51 instructors in 220 Texas cities.
“The [COAST] team is very compassionate about what they do. We’re very proud of them, and my hat’s off to them.”
In 2023, more than 200 officers received peer counseling, and the number of Texas police officers who died by suicide fell from 16 in 2022 to four.
With guidance from the Meadows Institute, the 88th Texas Legislature allocated $2.4 million so every law enforcement officer in Texas can receive peer support through the Texas Law Enforcement Peer Network.
A Lifeline for Law Enforcement Officers
The Meadows Institute launched the Texas Blue Chip Program in the Dallas-Fort Worth and wider North Texas area in 2023. Police officers can pick up specially crafted blue poker chips from local police stations or download digital chips from an app. The blue chips can be anonymously redeemed for counseling sessions with experienced mental health professionals.
Peer-to-Peer Support for Maui’s First Responders
Following the outbreak of devastating wildfires in Hawaii, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that the Texas Law Enforcement Peer Network would provide virtual peer-to-peer services at no cost to first responders affected by the wildfire.“I encourage first responders in Hawaii to reach out through the Texas Law Enforcement Peer Network and speak with a fellow first responder who can help share the burden they are carrying. In Texas, we honor our heroic first responders.”