Striving towards an accessible, person-centered behavioral health system of care in the El Paso region
The Consortium is committed to ongoing collaboration where all partners are welcome, empowered, and unified to achieve an ideal behavioral health service and support system and to reduce the burden of mental illness by designing improved, efficient, and patient-centered care for El Paso County residents.
For more information about the work of the Consortium Leadership Councils, click below.
The Family Leadership Council works with child, adolescent, and family health organizations, other child-serving agencies, and natural support systems to transform El Paso County into a model community for child and family behavioral health services and support.
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The Justice Leadership Council works with Justice System leaders and stakeholders as they transform the current system to support person-centered, recovery-oriented care and treat as many people as possible in healthcare settings instead of within the criminal justice system.
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The Integration Leadership Council works with healthcare providers to increase access to recovery-oriented behavioral healthcare by increasing the number of available providers and by integrating behavioral health and recovery support into primary care settings.
View Action PlanCommunity Behavioral Health Accomplishments
The El Paso Behavioral Health Consortium is a convening instrument to help foster, strengthen and properly recognize the integral partnerships that create change. Since 2015, El Paso County has grown in communication, coordination and collaboration leading to significant improvements in the behavioral health system of care. The following is a growing list of community accomplishments:
- Texas Tech Health Sciences Center is implementing the Child Psychiatry Access Network and the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) programs to provide timely access to child psychiatry consults in primary care and school settings. The program is active within nine of the 12 El Paso area school districts and in school districts across a 16 county region served by TTUHSC El Paso.
- Region 19 Education Services Center is working with school district administrators and staff to build a culture of support and acceptance using the Multi-Tiered System of Support approach a Texas Education Agency (TEA) model.
- El Paso Child Guidance Center, and a growing list of community organizations and agencies are convening under the West Texas Trauma Informed Care Consortium to integrate trauma informed policies and practices for improved child and family services.
- El Paso Child Guidance Center and El Paso Childrens Grief Center staff have been trained in therapeutic approaches to address trauma and grief in children, youth and their caregivers.
- El Paso Center for Children is leading the Parent and Provider Café programs started with grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children Youth and Families-Children’s Bureau and Paso del Norte Health Foundation. The Parent and Provider Café approach seeks to build protective factors for families and prevent child maltreatment.
- Paso del Norte Children’s Development Center is leading a Help Me Grow collaborative work group with support from the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. The group is working to improve connection, coordination and continuity of care for families with children ages 0-8 years of age. The project now includes a group of more than seven local pediatric providers who are actively engaged in Help Me Grow early intervention approaches.
- Project Vida Health Center, Socorro Independent School District and a growing list of community partners are collaborating to provide a model coordination of care to help children in need connect with mental health services.
- Texas Tech Health Sciences Center is implementing the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) programs to provide timely access to child mental health consults in primary care and school settings. The program is active within nine of the 12 El Paso area school districts and in school districts across a 16 county region served by TTUHSC El Paso.
- Texas Tech Health Sciences Center is also implementing the Child Psychiatry Access Network program to provide pediatrician and primary care providers with real time child and adolescent mental health plan of care guidance. Providers in the 16 county region served by TTUHSC El Paso can connect with a child psychiatrist usually within 30 minutes of request for consult.
- Region 19 Education Services Center is working with school district administrators and staff to build a culture of support and acceptance using the Multi-Tiered System of Support approach a Texas Education Agency (TEA) required model.
- Emergence Health Network is now offering First-Episode Psychosis Treatment options in its Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) Program.
- Emergence Health Network partnered with HHSC to execute the SAMHSA System of Care grant, with EHN being selected as one of three LMHAs statewide to implement the SOC model. The grant, funded for five years, commenced in FY 2021.
- In 2020, Emergence Health Network (EHN) received a $4 million grant for the SAMHSA Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC). As a result, the organization introduced two new service lines, Care Coordination and Assisted Outpatient Treatment, aimed at benefiting the community.
- Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) now play an active role in more accurate and precise crisis response. These were established through a collaboration with the City of El Paso and Emergence Health Network. After the El Paso Police Department launched the program, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office soon created a CIT Program. In addition, El Paso became one of the first communities in the nation to have School-Based CIT Programs through agreements with El Paso, Canutillo and Fabens ISDs and Emergence.
- Emergence Health Network operates an extended observation center. This crisis unit is open 24-hours a day, 7 days a week to provide up to 48 hours of observation and stabilization for individuals in need. A psychiatrist is available if immediate medication or psychiatric intervention is needed. The extended observation unit is designed to divert individuals from emergency department utilization and jails to a place where they can receive proper mental health care.
- Sheriff’s Department provided mental health first aid training for jailers
- City of El Paso Fire and Emergency Services is providing support for individuals with complex mental health needs through its Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) program.
- El Paso Judges and Courts are providing increased mental health resources, bringing synergy to the specialty courts as well as establishing a new mental health court.
- NAMI El Paso now has more than 100 trained volunteer instructors and 14 different programs available for those interested in learning more.
- Emergence Health Network now offers a range of mental health education programs through its Mental Health Learning Library. Organizations and agencies can now seek out programs like Mental Health First Aid, brief educational programs on mental health topics such as anxiety and depression, and targeted training on topics such as suicide prevention, grief management, stress reduction and how to seek out appropriate services.
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of El Paso is offering Mental Health First Aid courses and collaborating with Emergence Health Network to increase availability of Youth and Teen Mental Health First Aid programs.
The Following are grant examples that Consortium partners were successful at securing through unified priorities, up to date data, and collaboration with area partners. These additional resources and others will help El Paso County increase availability of service options for individuals in need of services in the next few years.
- Emergence Health Network – First Responders-Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act Project Term: September 2023 – 2027 Approximately $2,500,000 over 5 years
- University of Texas at El Paso – Mental Health Awareness Training Grants Project Term: December 2022 – 2026 Approximately $1,250,000 over 3 years
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of El Paso Inc – Mental Health Awareness Training Grants Project Term: September 2023 – 2026 Approximately $600,000 over 3 years
- El Paso Child Guidance Center, Inc – National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative Community Treatment and Service (CTS) Centers Project Term: September 2023 – 2028 Approximately $3,000,000 over 5 years
- Aliviane Inc. Grants to Expand Substance Use Disorder Treatment Capacity in Adult and Family Treatment Drug Courts Project Term: September 2023 – 2028 Approximately $4,000,000 over 5 years
- Aliviane Inc – Treatment for Individuals with Serious Mental Illness, Serious Emotional Disturbance, or Co-Occurring Disorders Experiencing Homelessness Project Term: September 2023 – 2028 Approximately $2,500,000 over 5 years
- Aliviane Inc. – Services Program for Residential Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women Project Term: September 2023 – 2028 Approximately $2,625,000 over 5 years
- Recovery Alliance – Harm Reduction Grant Program Project Term: May 2022 – 2025 Approximately $1,100,000 over 3 years
- Emergence Health Network – Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) Grant Program Project Term: September 2021 – 2023 Approximately $4,800,000 over 3 years.
- The Paso del Norte Health Information Exchange (PHIX) opened its doors to improve options for secure, confidential, timely sharing of mental health information. PHIX is one of only three health information exchanges in the country with signed on partners such as; the U.S. Veteran’s Administration, Department of Defense, Emergence Health Network (a Texas Local Mental Health Authority), The Hospitals of Providence (Tenet Corporation Hospitals), Texas Tech Health Sciences Center El Paso, Federally Qualified Health Centers, University Medical Center El Paso and others. The PHIX is collaborating with local organizations and agencies to improve accuracy and precision of crisis response and resource referral systems.
- Project Vida Health Center established co-location centers through alliances with Recovery Alliance/Casa Vida and Aliviane where they embedded clinic services for access to primary care in behavioral health settings.
- Project Vida Health Center is developing a community psychiatric residency program. A unique model to help increase the number of psychiatrists in the community.
- Emergence Health Network was credentialed as a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC). This is a new provider type in Medicaid designed to provide a comprehensive range of mental health and substance use disorder services to vulnerable individuals. CCBHCs are responsible for directly providing (or contracting with partner organizations to provide) nine types of services with an emphasis on the provision of 24- hour crisis care, utilization of evidence-based practices, care coordination and integration with physical health care.
- Emergence Health Network’s Veterans One Stop Center offers a variety of services for veterans and their families. EHN also offers information and resources to active duty soldiers and dependents through an agreement with Fort Bliss—one of the first programs of its type across the country.
- The Veterans Administration (VA) added a new wellness center in the heart of the Medical Center of the Americas.
- The Cohen Veterans Network opened a model program in El Paso in partnership with Endeavors. There are plans for a large wellness center to be built in the far east side of town.
- Rio Vista Behavioral Health Hospital opened in 2019 to add 80 additional mental health inpatient care beds including capacity for up to 40 adolescent inpatient care patients. In 2023 the hospital added an additional 40 beds for a total of 120 inpatient care beds and is also expanding its outpatient service options for El Paso County.
- The El Paso Psychiatric Center will gain a new campus. In the 88th Legislative Session the State appropriated $50M for planning, and land acquisition to expand and enhance state hospital services to address future community growth
The Consortium is committed to ongoing collaboration where all partners are welcome, empowered, and unified to achieve an ideal behavioral health service and support system and to reduce the burden of mental illness by designing improved, efficient, and patient-centered care for El Paso County residents. For more information about the work of the Consortium Leadership Councils click here.
Mental Health and Emotional Well-being Defined
“Mental health” includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being and affects how we think, feel, and act. “Emotional well-being” is an overall positive state of one’s emotions, life satisfaction, sense of meaning and purpose, and ability to pursue self-defined goals. In this context we intend the two to be inclusive of behavioral health and recovery from conditions related to mental illness, substance use and addiction.
For more information on regional consortia efforts contact us.
Enrique Mata, Executive Director
Paso del Norte Center
Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute
Josue Lachica, Assistant Director
Paso del Norte Center
Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute
