Full Notification

On Tuesday, Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman submitted the following testimony to the Texas Senate Finance Committee as they convened to review behavioral health policy.

###

"Thank you Chairwoman Nelson and fellow committee members for accepting the testimony submitted here within.

"Texas Sheriffs are inextricably linked to the statewide conversation regarding behavior health services, treatment of veterans suffering from mental illness, and allocating state resources to address the needs of the mentally ill in our communities.

"As the Sheriff of Harris County, I shoulder the burden of overseeing the largest county jail, and by default, the largest mental health facility in the state of Texas.

"The revelation that County jails serve as clearinghouses for the State’s underprivileged mentally ill is neither novel nor disputed. However the time has come for permanent reformations at the State level to account for the shortcomings in support of county agencies ultimately responsible for providing care.

"When the State of Texas moves to restrict or redirect DSHS funding for mental health, the fiscal burden is passed to County tax payers. Jails and County mental health authorities are woefully underfunded, yet forced to act as the de facto providers for the majority of mental health care services in their communities.

"Harris County residents pay taxes to the State and Federal governments under an assumption that those funds will be used to support State services, such as DSHS run State mental health facilities. Unwittingly, the tax burden is redirected locally, and residents are forced to double down on contributions for mental health care.

"Additionally, State officials should examine opportunities for grant funded relief to jails across the State, that by product of design, are forced to foot the bill for mentally ill individuals that fall through the cracks of the State health services. Staffing, housing and pharmaceutical costs, alongside the good faith efforts of County jails to connect discharged inmates with community based mental health resources, is burdensome on already strained budgets.

"Accountability to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, and the outcry of impassioned constituents and special interest groups, applies additional pressure on Sheriffs to provided cost ineffective services for the mentally ill. Despite these burdens, I and my fellow Sheriffs are struggling to make do with what we are afforded by our individual budgets.

"I believe that a serious evaluation of the State’s definition of Medicaid eligibility must be conducted in the next legislative session. County jails are the largest providers of mental health diagnosis and treatment in the State, yet they are the only facilities whose patients are deemed Medicaid ineligible by State guidelines.

"Once again, this practice forces county tax payers to foot the bill twice: first in their tithing to Federal tax collectors, and second when County budgets are forced to allocate funds for health care. Inmates come to county jails with a myriad of health concerns spanning beyond a mental health diagnosis, yet there remains a gap in relief to County Sheriffs for shouldering that burden.

"The tax payers are not the only victims of a broken mental health care system in Texas. Our State’s veterans are among those heavily affected by the confluence of mental health care and the criminal justice system. Often homeless, with undiagnosed disorders, veterans of the armed forces find themselves incarcerated before they are able to receive treatment or access to resources for care.

"The homeless are disproportionately impacted by that same convergence of law and health care. Homelessness should not be criminalized to a point at which incarceration in the county jail is the first point of access to care.

"I trust that this committee, in review of the interim charge before you, will work closely with local entities to find mutually sustainable paths to fiscal relief from the encumbrance of funding mental health care.

"I look forward to identifying opportunities, and engaging in a fruitful dialogue, as we serve our constituents and our State."