THE HARRIS CENTER FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND IDD
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Stephen : Harris County Mental Health Jail Diversion Program due to the pandemic . For those we are currently serving , people have maintained a pretty healthy trajectory and we ' re not seeing dramatic increases in needs for crisis services than usual . However , we have seen a sharp ( 15 %) rise in the mental health utilization across Houston due to the impact of the pandemic . We have relied upon telehealth to increase our capacity so that we could serve more people during this challenging time .”
Delivering consultations virtually is also enabling them to reach more people . “ It ' s more accessible for some people , and makes outreach easier ,” Young says . “ But there are also some challenges , for instance not everyone has broadband access , and many of the people we serve have pre-paid cell plans which makes it a challenge for them to use a significant amount of minutes on telehealth services . We ’ re having to think about how we work with strategic partners to improve access so we can continue delivering this type of care .”
They are also considering the long-term impact of the pandemic , in terms of social isolation and the lack of connectedness most people are experiencing . “ To support our community during these difficult times , we operate a statewide COVID-19 support line for Texas Health and Human Services Commission . We get calls every day from people that maybe aren ' t in crisis , but need to talk to someone . We ' re
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