Who We Are
The Mental Health Needs Council consists of the executive leadership of the major mental health service, professional, and advocacy organizations in Harris County.
Primary Goals
- To investigate mental health problems and provide guidance for solutions.
- To promote ongoing communication between primary mental health leaders in Harris County.
- To regularly put forth recommendations to country and state elected officials concerning the needs of Harris County children, adolescents, and adults experiencing mental illness.
What We Do
The Council was established in 1977. Since that time, it has published biennial reports on the number of children, adolescents, and adults in Harris County with mental illness, their unmet service needs, and recommendations for meeting those needs. The Council has played a major role in the creation of psychiatric services in the Harris County Jail, the Harris County Psychiatric Center, the Neuropsychiatry Center, Judge Ed Emmett Jail Diversion Center, Juvenile Diversion Center. Served as supporters and advisors for the development of supported housing for persons with mental illness. In 1997, the Council produced the award-winning documentary “In Their Shoes.” Officials in Austin, Texas, and Washington, D.C. have endorsed the methodology that the Council uses for its mental health needs assessments.