Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Behavioral Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Emergence Health Network presents fiscal‑year 2024 report; highlights crisis services, school‑based care and mobile clinics
Summary
Emergence Health Network outlined an expansion of school‑based behavioral health, crisis intervention teams, 988/911 integration, mobile clinics and new diversion/restorative justice services while reporting $18.8M in grant funding and more than 36,000 people served in FY2024.
Emergence Health Network (EHN) presented its fiscal‑year 2024 annual report to the El Paso City Council on Feb. 4, outlining expanded crisis response capabilities, school‑based services and several new programs intended to reduce emergency room and jail use for behavioral health needs.
Key program expansions: CEO Christy Daugherty told council EHN answered more than 25,000 crisis calls in the year and has expanded Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) partnerships across municipal, county and school‑based law enforcement. Staff reported integration between the local 988 crisis line and 911 dispatch, with EHN staff having access to CAD (computer‑aided dispatch) data to advise first responders.
School‑based services and prevention: EHN said it now operates behavioral health services in 10 school campuses across multiple districts and trained more than 2,000 community members in Mental Health First Aid in the FY24 reporting period. The agency said it served more than 5,000 students via school‑based clinics over the year.
New diversion and mobile services: Daugherty described an expanded observation/diversion unit at 1600 Montana that will add a diversion component to the extended observation unit, enabling short‑term stabilization and community linkages for people diverted from arrest or emergency rooms. EHN also reported purchase of two mobile clinics (vans) equipped for clinical assessments and telehealth that can respond to school or community crisis sites; the children’s van includes a therapeutic play area.
Workforce and funding: EHN reported $18.8 million in grant funding in FY24 and said it has reduced clinician documentation time by approximately 30% through adoption of an AI‑assisted documentation tool (clinicians must review and approve AI drafts). The network said it pays attendant care workers more than the state minimum and is advocating at the legislative level for boosted attendant pay statewide.
Why it matters: Council members and the mayor praised EHN’s expansion of mobile crisis services and the 988/911 integration, noting those programs aim to get individuals behavioral health care instead of emergency incarceration. Council received the report as an informational briefing; no action was requested.
