As Tarrant County’s population grows, the need for mental health services for children and families also increases, according to three Fort Worth mental health leaders.
ACH Child and Family Services CEO Wayne Carson, MHMR of Tarrant County CEO Susan Garnett, and Mental Health Connection of Tarrant County Executive Director Christina Judge discussed challenges facing local organizations and what can be done to address the need.
The April 12 conversation, which was moderated by Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, was part of ACH Child and Family Services’ annual Lend a Hand luncheon during National Child Abuse and Prevention Month.
ACH Child and Family Services provides crisis intervention, foster care and adoption, residential services and community-based care to children and families in need. It also serves as Tarrant County’s only 24-hour Youth Emergency Shelter.
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Panelists homed in on Tarrant County’s growing population. Fort Worth’s population is inching closer to 1 million after adding more residents than any other city in the country in 2022, according to new Census data.
While growth is vital to Fort Worth and its surrounding areas, it also brings more families in need of mental health services, said Garnett.
“The growing population is definitely a challenge for the Texas Legislature to grapple with how to grow these services,” she said.
ACH is seeing a growing number of Tarrant County children from abused or neglected households who require therapeutic care, Carson said. In 2023, ACH counseled more than 1,500 youth and provided more than 4,800 hours of counseling, according to the organization.
“We have seen a dramatic increase in the need for those kids,” he said. “These are kiddos that need more than just a safe night’s rest, they need somebody who’s specifically trained to deal with trauma to help them feel safer.”
While more children are being helped, providers are stretched thin, said Carson. Of Texas’ 254 counties, 98% are wholly or partially designated by the federal government as “mental health professional shortage areas,” according to The Texas Tribune.
“(Mental health providers) are operating at full capacity,” he said. “They’re having a hard time expanding services to meet the demand because of workforce challenges. They’re having a hard time finding qualified people who do the work and funding that pays for services is not keeping up with the costs.”
Panelists advocated for continuous investment from both the state government and individual donors to support the work.
“Investing now for a 20-year premier payoff is a really tough thing to ask the legislative body,” said Garnett. “These are tough things to deal with.”
Judge pointed toward investing in mental health experts and students to keep the workforce strong and supported.
“They need more professional training opportunities and they need continuing education credits to keep their certifications up,” she said. “We also need to provide professional support to our students looking for an internship program to see what kind of mental health work they want to go into.”
All three panelists agreed that collaboration between local mental health organizations is key in the meantime.
“We have a firm philosophy that people don’t care what the name of the organization is, they care whether or not they’re getting the services that they need,” said Garnett. “No one agency could ever do what needs to be done, it’s really about everybody doing the best they can.”
David Moreno is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports on X.
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