Kyle to see Juvenile Behavioral Health Program

KYLE — Hill Country Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Center is partnering with Hays CISD, Hays County and city of Kyle to establish a Juvenile Behavioral Health Program. The partnership comes after Kyle City Council awarded the solicitation to increase access to mental health services to the organization in January 2024.

According to its website, Hill Country MHDD is an organization that began in 1977 and is now one of 39 agencies that serves communities across Texas. The company strives to focus on individual choices when it comes to services, the best use of public money to create a network of service providers and making recommendations on the most appropriate services available to those who need it.

“A little over a year ago, I sat in a room at Kyle City Hall with local parents who’ve lost children to fentanyl. Nearly every parent shared their story and provided feedback on how the system can be improved — through legislation, programming and education. What I learned is that kids in our town, oftentimes, have to be driven an hour away to see a therapist or a counselor or for substance abuse treatment and there are other kids who don't have insurance and can’t afford care. We are trying to eliminate the barriers to entry by creating more access to services and resources,” said council member Bear Heiser, who brought forth the original idea to council in December 2023.

The program aims to create a unique, collaborative and individualized recovery plan for juveniles and will primarily lean toward behavioral health, with a focus on fentanyl and other opiate substance use treatment, including alcohol, tobacco and other substance use treatments.

Previously, Hays CISD Chief Communication Officer Tim Savoy expressed the struggles students may face when it comes to treatment facilities when students were attempting to reach out for help: “We were realizing that these long lists of places that you can seek treatment [at] are either full or were not accepting new patients.”

This is why the opportunity to bring outpatient substance abuse services to the county is addressing a deep community need, according to Hill Country MHDD.

“[The program] is an interesting niche that isn’t currently existing right now. I think the way we’ve structured this program is that it would allow us to be able to be competitive in the partnership that we’re creating with Hays County and with the school districts. We actually are not competing with them,” said city of Kyle Director of Administrative Services Rosie Truelove.

The program is initially planned to be on Hays CISD campuses — but could later grow to service charter schools and other districts — and aims to partner with district faculty to identify and care for students who are using or have used substances in order to curb use, improve wellness and teach alternative methods for coping.

“We are excited about the initiative,” said Savoy. “It will provide comprehensive mental health support to students within Hays CISD, regardless of their place of residence. We look forward to the positive impact this partnership will have on our students' mental health and well-being. As a school district, it is critical to consider the mental health of our students. The ability for students to learn is affected when they are dealing with other issues related to their mental health. Helping them through mental health challenges opens the way for better school and life experiences for them. Access to mental health services, particularly specialized services for youth, can be daunting for families — even those who have the best insurance. This partnership helps fill a critical need in making those services more easily accessible.”

At its July 2 meeting, Kyle City Council approved the hiring of a school-based licensed practitioner of the healing arts (licensed PHA), which can be a licensed professional counselor, a clinical social worker or a marriage and family therapist, for a total of $154,046 for the first year. This professional will provide cognitive behavioral therapy to address symptoms of depression, anxiety and/or trauma-focused therapy.

The role will give the opportunity to expand the capacity of in-house therapy, including medication management and psychosocial rehab, explained Truelove, as well as provide a supervisor for additional staff, such as the university-based interns.

“There are hundreds of kids in our school district, many of whom live in the city of Kyle, who have maxed out the number of therapy sessions that are allowed by current school district programming — TCHATT and Communities in Schools. The intention of this program is to provide a soft landing spot for kids who want to continue with treatment beyond what the school district can offer,” Heiser explained, adding that these children will also have access to Hill Country MHDD’s existing network of providers.

Several resources are in place to aid the program: a $100,000 one-time funding for fiscal year 2024 from the city of Kyle; a potential space at Kyle Elementary School provided by Hays CISD, as well as an access to potential qualified interviews; and Hays County will provide a community outreach specialist to partner with Hill Country MHDD, as well as space, if needed. To accommodate the salary of the licensed PHA, money from the general fund will be used.

“Life is significantly more complicated today for kids than it was 10, 20, 30 years ago and I have spoken to hundreds of parents who have expressed challenges with finding sustainable care for their kids. If there are things the city of Kyle can do to improve the lives of kids who are struggling with their mental health, I believe it to be our responsibility to step up and fill some of those gaps,” concluded Heiser.