“The expansion of mental health services continues to be a priority of the Governor and legislature, as current budget discussions look at increasing mental health funding from $8.9 billion to more than $11 billion,” Mahaleris said.
Mental health experts say their profession isn’t the only answer to mass shootings and that state leaders need to expand their focus. Greg Hansch, the executive director for the Texas chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said the state needs to look beyond child and community services, saying investments need to be made where distressed adults intersect with government and hospitals.
Also, a lot of money has gone to upgrading the state’s psychiatric hospital system. This inpatient system treats the most seriously mentally ill patients in the state, most of which come from the state’s jails. Of the $25 billion set aside for mental health in the state budget over the past nine years, at least $4 billion has been spent renovating, constructing and staffing state hospitals.