Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Behavioral Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
MHMR Brazos Valley requests increased county support, outlines expanded jail mental-health services
Summary
MHMR Authority Brazos Valley presented to the Commissioners Court seeking increased local support ($95,000 requested) and described an additional proposal to provide full mental-health services inside the Brazos County Jail that would require substantially more funding.
MHMR Authority Brazos Valley asked Brazos County for increased support during a Commissioners Court workshop and outlined a separate, larger proposal to expand mental-health services inside the county jail.
Bill Kelly, executive director of MHMR Authority Brazos Valley, identified the authority as the local mental health and intellectual/developmental disabilities authority serving Brazos County and six surrounding counties. Kelly said about 55% of the agency’s funding comes from state sources, about 35% from Medicaid-billable services and roughly 10% from local grants, county contributions and donations.
Kelly said the authority’s formal FY2026 request includes $95,000 (up from $80,000 in recent years) to support psychiatric services and local match requirements. He additionally described a proposal to facilitate all mental-health services inside the Brazos County Jail that has a larger estimated cost: in one budget scenario he cited approximately $408,708 in additional operating costs and in another described an additional $383,708 for full jail services. Kelly characterized the total incremental request discussed as an increase of about $398,000 to implement the jail program and also referenced an additional $15,000 tied to psychiatric services in the jail.
Kelly said the agency became a certified community behavioral health clinic (CCBHC) in March 2022 and that local match dollars help the authority secure state funding and program capacity. He noted the authority has added forensic casework support in the jail and provides some psychiatric services at the jail already.
Kelly invited the sheriff and other partners to speak to the jail proposal, and the presentation ended with questions from the court. No formal vote or funding decision was taken at the workshop; the presentation was heard as part of outside-agency budget discussions and would require further county budget deliberation and potential contract agreements if the county pursues the jail services proposal.
