Commissioners renew $200,000 contract with Prosper Waco to continue county behavioral-health coordination

The McLennan County Commissioners Court on March 18 approved a $200,000 renewal for Prosper Waco to continue leading a regional behavioral-health coordination effort that county officials say is intended to reduce emergency-department use and improve jail diversion.

The contract, described to the court as a one-year renewal of work that began in March 2024, funds Prosper Waco’s support for the Behavioral Health Leadership Team (BHLT), data-sharing work and action teams focused on crisis response and law-enforcement coordination. The court approved the renewal by motion and voice vote; commissioners did not record individual roll-call tallies.

Prosper Waco presenter Jill Edge told the commissioners the 12 months since the initial contract were “a year of alignment and action,” and that partners have developed baseline metrics, data-sharing agreements and standing action teams to address seven core problems including inpatient bed shortages, limited primary-care access and workforce shortages. Edge described progress on data collection and a quarterly reporting cadence that she said will support measurement of program impact.

County officials and Prosper Waco staff emphasized the diversion center in Waco as a recent operational development. Linda Bonds, associate director of behavioral health services for Behavioral Health Network (BHN), told the court the diversion center had seen roughly a 57% increase in use and that, at one point last week, 11 of 12 crisis beds were filled.

Judge Scott Felton and other commissioners said the county intends to track how the diversion center and other investments affect emergency-department crowding and jail calls for service. County staff said the contract renewal will initially be paid from the general fund, with the court planning to reclassify costs to opioid-settlement (abatement) funds if and when those funds are received.

Dustin (county staff) told the court, “If this is a $200,000 annual contract, it’s the renewal of that. So it’s another $200,000 for this year,” and noted the county could reclassify the expenditure to opioid settlement proceeds later if the funds arrive.

The court’s action authorizes the county to continue the interagency coordination work with Prosper Waco, which participants said includes hospital systems, law enforcement, school districts and health clinics. Edge said future priorities include further work on crisis response, law-enforcement relief, sequential intercept mapping and targeted child and adolescent behavioral-health strategies.

Commissioners said they will continue oversight of grant-seeking and state funding requests tied to the initiative and monitor performance measures promised by Prosper Waco.