Tarrant County faces a mental health care accessibility crisis, according to a panel of experts.
The contributing factors? Difficulty locating resources and then understanding them. The lingering stigma of asking for mental health help. A lack of state and federal funding.
Tarrant County can take a different path forward, according to mental health experts who spoke Feb. 26 during a Fort Worth Report Candid Conversation event. Their solutions ranged from the simple — collecting resources into a one-stop-shop website — to the complex, like pushing state lawmakers to allocate additional dollars to meet the growing demand of mental health care in the county and across the state.
Searching for “mental health in Tarrant County” online brings up several resources. None, though, are in layman’s terms nor comprehensively encompass all services available in the county, said Dr. Chelsea Angelocci, a board-certified psychiatrist.
“We need to have a dictionary, some sort of central database for people to have access to,” Angelocci said.
The site should be a jumping off point for residents to navigate mental health care options and look for specific services they may need, she said. During and after the discussion, she pledged to work with the Fort Worth Report and others in the mental health community to create this resource.
People also need therapists who make it easy to talk about mental illness, said Lachelle Goodrich, founder and executive director of CHAMP Texas. CHAMP stands for Community Health and Mental Health Project.
Therapists, however, need to be culturally competent so people feel safe to process their emotions.
“That way we can address the stigma. We can address the trauma, the family illnesses and so forth,” Goodrich said.
CHAMP works to remove barriers to access mental health care and resources for Tarrant County residents.
The nonprofit has a mobile mental wellness unit that provides triage services and educates underserved communities about how residents can receive help. Without the mobile unit, many communities would not receive basic mental health care, Goodrich said.
Wait times for care is another major hurdle residents face, Angelocci said.
Insurance, lack of providers and Texas’ and Tarrant County’s rapidly growing population all contribute to long wait times, according to the panelists.
At her private practice, Angelocci has a wait time of more than a month. Other care facilities have wait times of up to six months.
“When they’re told, ‘Sure, we’ll see you in about a month and a half,’ it can be devastating,” Angelocci said. “Mental health does not wait.”
When people don’t ask for help, it can quickly escalate into a crisis, said Zelia Baugh, executive vice president of behavioral health at JPS Health Network.
Sometimes a crisis rises to the point where the police may get involved. Arlington Police Lt. Kimberly Harris leads her department’s behavioral health law enforcement unit.
About 1 in 10 calls that the Arlington Police Department receives has a behavioral health component, Harris said.
Harris’ team features crisis intervention specialists who are paired with trained behavioral health response police officers. They’re on patrol every day and don’t look like traditional cops, Harris said. They wear special uniforms and drive cars that don’t look like patrol vehicles.
“We try to destigmatize, we try to humanize and we’ve been able to get a lot of people on that path toward mental health help through this program,” Harris said.
A stigma around mental health often stops people from seeking professional help or even talking about it with their loved ones, Baugh said.
“It’s still frowned upon, and it’s still thought of as a failure in character or a failure in morals,” she said.
Howdy, everyone! This is @_jacob_sanchez and I'll be live tweeting our Candid Conversation about mental health this morning. The conversation starts at 8 a.m.
— Fort Worth Report (@FortWorthReport) February 26, 2025
Our question today: How can Tarrant County improve access to mental health care?
‘Smart with our dollars’
Tarrant County faces a funding gap to adequately provide mental health care through JPS, the taxpayer-supported hospital district, Baugh said.
“Let’s be smart with our dollars,” Baugh said.
Goodrich pointed to Potter County as an example of a community improving mental health care access.
In 2023, the Texas Legislature allocated nearly $2.3 billion to increase mental health care access. The Potter County government directed its share to the construction of a mental health care-focused hospital in Amarillo.
“It’s about the money. Where is the money?” Goodrich said.
Tarrant County is the largest in Texas without a state mental health facility within its borders, according to a resolution county commissioners adopted in December. County officials are calling for the state to fund a new state psychiatric facility during the 2025 legislative session to alleviate the number of people on a waitlist for care. The proposal failed to gain traction in 2023.
Baugh asked attendees to advocate for the Legislature to increase mental health funding for nonprofits and health systems. People would receive access to care, while providers would get proper funding, she said.
“We’ve got to have the dollars to expand services and to improve access. That funding can come with your advocacy,” Baugh said.
‘Get curious’
Improving mental health care in Tarrant County ultimately starts with residents taking charge, Angelocci said.
“Get curious. Think how you can be the first example to spread awareness, education and to look for resources. Mental health touches every single person,” Angelocci said.
Police departments need community guidance, and Harris advised residents to reach out to local officers.
“It’s a hard subculture, but you won’t regret it once you get connected and just find that one person in the department where you’re close to,” Harris said.
Goodrich advised residents to be an example to follow.
“Be the change you want to see,” Goodrich said. “If that means sharing your story or going to a therapist, be the change.”
Kathryn Miller is a reporting fellow at the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at kathryn.miller@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.