LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – A new mental health facility is under construction in Lubbock.
The Hope Center will be a mental health diversion center located next to StarCare Specialty HealthCare’s Sunrise Canyon Hospital in East Lubbock.
A Lubbock mother said when she watched community leaders break ground on the facility, it gave her just that – hope.
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“I thought, ‘Praise God.’ There’s just not enough places for them,” she said.
The woman asked us not to identify her to protect her son’s privacy.
The mother of two said she had to bury her youngest son after a car crash about 14 years ago.
She said the grief her son carries from that loss has her worried that she may lose the only child she has left.
“He took it really, really hard,” she said.
She said her son’s mental health began to decline after his brother died.
She later learned her youngest son had tried to call his big brother just before the deadly crash, but he did not answer because they were in a fight.
“He may never forgive himself for that,” she said. “I have found him breaking down at his brother’s grave more than once.”
She said he now struggles with paranoia and more.
“It’s constantly things like, ‘The government’s got him. You’ll see, you’ll see. He’s not dead. He’s coming back,’” she said.
She said his mental health illnesses have made it difficult for him to keep a job, so now he lives with her.
Since he is an adult, she said she is limited on what she can do when he refuses to take his medicine or becomes more and more isolated.
“For a mom, that is hard to watch,” she said.
Lately she said the bad days outnumber the good.
“I’ve done a lot of tough love stuff lately and one of those is when I called and said I need to have him court committed,” she said.
She said her son has been involuntarily committed to mental health facilities, including Sunrise Canyon Hospital, three times and he has also received mental health treatment in jail.
“That is the last place anybody with a mental issue needs to be,” she said.
Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe said almost 50% of the individuals who are booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center are identified as having had some level of mental health services prior to their arrival.
Rowe said about 25%-27% of that population requires highly concentrated mental health services.
“Unfortunately that is what our jails have become is de-facto mental health institutions,” Rowe said.
Rowe said while they are fortunate enough to have 24-hour medical staff, it is best for low level offenders who have a mental health illness to receive treatment at a mental health facility as opposed to jail.
“Not only is it better for the individual, but the absolute most expensive way to deliver mental health services is to do it through the criminal justice system,” Rowe said.
Texas Health and Human Services contracts with 37 local mental health authorities and two local behavioral health authorities to deliver services in communities across the state.
Rowe said he is thankful that out of Texas’ 254 counties, one of those 37 facilities is located in Lubbock.
“StarCare has always been a topnotch partner for us,” Rowe said.
StarCare is the state designated Local Authority for mental health and intellectual disabilities for Lubbock, Lynn, Hockley, Cochran, and Crosby Counties. It is also a Texas Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic and provides inpatient psychiatric services at Sunrise Canyon Hospital.
Bobby Carter has worked for StarCare for 16 years and currently serves as the Director of Diversion Programs.
“We wanted this to be a place for law enforcement to have a place to drop folks off who they come in contact with who are having a mental health crisis rather than take them to jail for some petty crime such as trespassing or public intoxication or take them to the emergency departments,” Carter said.
Last year, he said law enforcement dropped off about 630 people.
“If you do the math, that can technically be 630 people that didn’t go to jail,” Carter said.
On average, he said EMS drops off about 315 people every year.
“If someone calls 911 and they are in a mental health crisis and they do not meet the medical criteria to go to the emergency room, they can take them to us,” Carter said.
Carter said last year, they served nearly 3,000 people and are on track to serve that many again this year.
“We have one hallway that has six consult rooms. There are some times when every singe one of those consult rooms are full and people are overflowing into the lobby waiting to be seen,” Carter said.
Carter said the Hope Center will provide additional space for them to see patients and offer expedited services.
“Instead of six consult rooms, we are going to have nine to 12. We are going to have our extended observation unit that is going to expand from a four bed capacity to a nine to 12 bed capacity,” Carter said.
As part of the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded the Health and Human Services Commission supplemental funding, part of which the Health and Human Services Commission allocated those 37 facilities to increase the number of people served in fiscal years 2021-2024.
The funding came with a requirement for HHSC to report waitlist data to Legislative Budget Board and the governor’s office by November 1 and May 1 of each year.
The average monthly number of adults served ranges between nearly 95,000 and nearly 99,000.
At the end of fiscal year 2021, 196 adults were on the waitlist. That number jumped to 870 by the end of 2022. The waitlist number dropped to 252 at the end of 2023. We just wrapped up the second quarter of 2024, and HHSC reported a waitlist of 10.
While that number is encouraging, the number of underserved adults awaiting additional treatment from these facilities is still high.
Currently, 1,903 adults are awaiting additional services from a local health or local behavioral health authority.
Keep in mind, these numbers fluctuate daily but as of May 1st of this year, Andrews Center Behavioral Healthcare System reported 435 underserved adults waiting for additional services. Austin Travis County Integral Care reported 317, Tropical Texas Behavioral Health has 251, StarCare reported 248 and Nueces Center for Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities rounded out the longest waitlists with 117.
The pandemic brought in a new wave of patients and community leaders said they are thankful lawmakers recognized the need for additional funding.
Here in Lubbock, the city and county allocated $3.5 million from their American Rescue Plan Act funds to help with the construction of the Hope Center, which is scheduled to open in June 2025.
The Lubbock woman we spoke with said she has started to open up to close friends about her family’s struggles and learned she’s not alone.
It’s a message she hopes others will hear as Lubbock focuses on addressing the mental health crisis.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call 911.
StarCare also operates a 24/7 Crisis Help Line that can be reached at 806-740-1414.
If you would like to schedule an appointment with StarCare, call 806-740-1421.
Click here to learn more about the services StarCare offers.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) also has a trained crisis counselor available to offer crisis support via text message. Text NAMI to 741-741.
The NAMI HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. This is a free, nationwide peer-support services that provides information, resource referrals and support to those living with a mental health condition, their family members and caregivers, mental health providers and the public.
Click here to learn more about NAMI’s support groups, resources and more.
The Lubbock Suicide Hotline is 806-765-5393.
You can text or call 988 to reach a nationwide suicide and crisis lifeline that provides 24/7 free and confidential support, prevention and crisis resources. Learn more about the 988 Lifeline here.
The Children’s Crisis Line is 806-252-2748.
The Veterans Crisis Line is 1-800-273-8255, then press “1″. This will connect you to responders with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Oceans Behavioral Hospital, while private, also takes involuntary commitments.
To learn more about the services Oceans offers, click here.
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