CONTACT: Christine Sinatra: (512) 473-2274
For Immediate Release
Texans Care for Children Selected as One of Five Texas Sites
for Hogg Foundation Mental Health Policy Fellows
AUSTIN – A new generation of Texas advocates for mental health will get intensive training, education and experience in policy and advocacy work through a new fellowship program, announced the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health Wednesday, and Texans Care for Children has been selected as one of just five sites to house fellows.
"This is a critical time for mental health in Texas. Proposed budget cuts in the tens of millions threaten vital programs for children and adults who struggle with mental illness, and the state struggles with severe shortages in its mental health workforce,” said Eileen Garcia, CEO of Texans Care for Children. "The Hogg Mental Health Policy Fellows program serves as an investment in this workforce in an innovative sense, acknowledging the need not only for clinicians but also for Texas professionals who understand the broad impact of mental health policy. This program creates greater capacity for advocacy during the 2011 legislative session—something that could help turn the tide for countless Texans for years to come.”
Texans Care for Children has received a foundation grant to hire an in-house fellow, provide the fellow with mentoring and connect the fellow to important projects to improve children's mental health policy in Texas. To learn about applying for the fellow position, see the online position description.
"Texas needs more advocates who understand the state's complex mental health system and who know how to improve it through public policy work. These five fellows have a rare opportunity to learn the art of public policy work from seasoned experts,” said Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., executive director of the foundation. Other nonprofit advocacy organizations to receive foundation grants include Advocacy, Inc., of Austin, ChildBuilders of Houston, Lutheran Social Services of the South, Inc. in Austin and Mental Health America of Greater Houston.
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Since 1985, Texans Care for Children has been the leading nonprofit advancing policies that benefit Texas children. We serve as a voice for children, a source on children and a network for people who put kids first. Through policy analysis, statewide coalitions, grassroots campaigns, and research, the agency improves conditions for Texas kids in the areas of health, mental health, poverty, child protection, and juvenile justice.
