Hogg Foundation for Mental Health

Report Highlights Austin’s Progress in Becoming a Mentally Healthy Community

June 1, 2007

The Austin Mayor's Mental Health Task Force Monitoring Committee has released its second annual report on the city's coordinated efforts to become a national model of a mentally healthy community.

In 2004, the Hogg Foundation collaborated with the Austin Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation (ATCMHMR) Center and Austin Mayor Will Wynn to create the task force in order to develop recommendations for improving Austin's overall mental health. Following the release of the task force's report in 2005, its Monitoring Committee was charged with making annual progress reports to the mayor over a five-year period.

The Monitoring Committee is a subcommittee of the ATCMHMR Center Board of Directors. Hogg Foundation Associate Director Lynda Frost serves as a member of the committee.

The second annual report highlights important steps taken over the past year toward a mentally healthy Austin. Particularly strong gains were made in the areas of developing a comprehensive housing plan for people with behavioral health issues, mapping the city's behavioral health delivery system, creating evidence-based indicators for tracking the community's progress, and addressing the interface of criminal justice and behavioral health systems in the area.