Testimony on Maternal Health, ECI, Mental Health and Keeping Families Together

Today, four members of our policy team are testifying to the Texas Senate Finance Committee on Article II of the state budget bill, known as SB 1.

Diana Forester is testifying on ways to improve maternal health in the DSHS and HHSC budgets. We are grateful that SB 1 continues funding for preconception and postpartum family planning services for the state’s Family Planning Program (FPP), yet additional funding is needed. We urge lawmakers to adopt the funding needed to protect Texas moms and babies from syphilis, ensure the Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee (MMMRC) can review maternal death data in a timely manner, and fully fund the maternal health safety initiative Texas Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) program.

Read Diana’s maternal health testimony or watch a video of her testimony.

Alec Mendoza is testifying about Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) for infants and toddlers with disabilities in the HHSC budget. We are thankful to the Senate for including an additional $18 million to fund projected caseload growth in ECI and a minor increase in per-child funding for the program. However, state per-child funding for ECI has fallen by 38% since 2010 when accounting for inflation. Additionally, the Legislature has not updated Medicaid reimbursement rates for key ECI services since 2011. This chronic underfunding threatens the quality and availability of services for Texas children. Our testimony thanks the Senate for the $18 million increase and recommends two additional steps to support ECI.

Read Alec’s ECI testimony or watch a video with excerpt of his testimony.

Muna Javaid is testifying on ways to improve access to children’s mental health services in the HHSC budget. Texas must address the growing crisis in children’s mental health with dedicated funding for behavioral health support and services for children and their caregivers. First, legislators should increase support for the Youth Empowerment Services (YES) Waiver, which effectively prevents or reduces the need for out-of-home care, including placement in foster care for children across the state. Second, we urge lawmakers to increase funding for three key types of children’s mental health services: intensive mental health services, community-based services, and crisis services.

Read’s Muna’s testimony on children’s mental health.

Finally, Kate Murphy is testifying on opportunities in the DFPS budget to keep families together and safely keep kids out of foster care. Insufficient access to mental health care often forces families to relinquish or share custody of their children with the state to secure necessary services, including the children most in need of intensive psychiatric stabilization services. While most children enter foster care because of concerns about abuse or neglect, in FY 2024, 6 percent of youth who entered foster care did so because they have complex mental health challenges that their families are unable to manage without additional support. To address this challenge, we urge the Legislature to sustain the Texas Family First Pilots by replacing expiring federal grant funding with state funds. We also urge legislators to invest state funds in effective children’s mental health services eligible for federal FFPSA matching funds, ensuring at-risk children receive the support they need before foster care becomes necessary.

Read Kate’s testimony on keeping families safely together or watch a video of her testimony.

In the coming days, we will be testifying on additional budget priorities — including calling on the Legislature to provide funding to reduce the waitlist for the state’s child care scholarship program. Stay tuned!

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