West Texas Mental Health Collaborative

Availability of Mental Health Care in the Local Community

In September 2018, representatives from various community agencies and governmental entities began meeting about the availability of mental health care in the local community. As time passed, the group became more coordinated in their efforts and projects, including adopting the name West Texas Mental Health Collaborative.

• The WTMHC is working to improve coordination of mental health services across member organizations and reduce duplication to positively impact the lives of family in the community.
• The WTMHC collaborative will serve as a bridge to create and expand needed services including counseling services, crisis response, substance use treatment, intensive outpatient treatment, and inpatient treatment capacity.
• The Texas Tech Mental Health Initiative is working to facilitate and support the development of an organizational structure, seeking additional resources, and coordinating and expanding the collaborative efforts of WTMHP for greater access to mental health care and related services within the community.

The conversations of this original group began to identify the mental health needs of the Lubbock community. The community agencies formalized their efforts, entering an MOU that commissioned the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute to conduct a comprehensive mental health needs assessment of the Lubbock area. The initial efforts of the WTMHC have focused on the areas identified by the Meadow’s needs assessment.

The Founding Parties includes representatives from each of the agencies who worked together for the community-wide mental health needs assessment with the addition of: 

Stephen Warren, President
West Texas Community Foundation
+ serves as the convener

Dr. Sarah Wakefield, Chair of
TTUHSC Department of Psychiatry
+ serves as a clinical consultant

Dr. Nancy Trevino, Director of
Texas Tech Mental Health Initiative
+ serves as the facilitator

Founding Parties