Hays County expands mental-health court services, creates assisted outpatient-treatment agreements and a coordinating committee

HAYS COUNTY — The Hays County Commissioners Court on Thursday approved a package of contracts and memoranda of understanding intended to expand services available to participants in the county's mental health specialty court and the Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) program, and formally recognized a Mental Health Coordinating Committee to coordinate services across jurisdictions.

The court approved a contract for benefits and benefits-navigation assistance with Philip Carolina (listed in the record as a licensed mental health practitioner with benefit-navigation qualifications). Kami Matala, mental health court administrator, told the court the contract allows court participants to receive help applying for SSI/SSDI, food assistance, health insurance and housing applications: "We have court participants that have very intense needs that need a lot of support navigating those systems," Matala said.

The court also approved memoranda of understanding with Austin Oaks Hospital (to provide partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programming), Devlin Health Concepts (psychiatry, case management and counseling) and Evoke Wellness (IOP services for co-occurring disorders). Matala said the contracts let the AOT program and mental health court access outpatient and substance-use services tailored to participants' treatment plans.

Judge Elaine Brown and other commissioners moved to formally establish a Mental Health Coordinating Committee to improve coordination among the county, cities (Buda, Dripping Springs, Kyle, San Marcos, Wimberley), behavioral-health work groups and providers. Brown said the committee will allow professionals who deliver services daily to set priorities and coordinate implementation countywide.

Commissioners discussed ongoing evaluation of contract effectiveness and budgeting after ARPA funds are exhausted; they asked staff to ensure the county evaluates which services deliver the most value and to report findings before the next budget cycle.

All motions to execute the contract and MOUs were approved by roll-call votes.

Why it matters: The actions add benefits-navigation and a broader set of outpatient and partial-hospitalization options for people participating in court-ordered mental health and AOT services and create a county-level body to coordinate mental-health planning across jurisdictions and providers.

Next steps: Staff will execute contracts/MOUs and continue evaluating service effectiveness and budget implications as ARPA and other transitional funds end.