Texas lawmakers implemented fewer than a third of a comprehensive children’s mental health strategy during the 2025 legislative session, leaving significant gaps in services for young Texans. Of 31 recommendations in the Statewide Behavioral Health Coordinating Council’s children’s strategic plan, only eight were acted upon, according to advocates’ analysis.
Limited Funding Against Need
The Legislature did approve some targeted investments. Lawmakers allocated roughly $40 million to expand mobile youth crisis outreach teams and about $32.7 million to grow multisystemic therapy, or MST, capacity statewide. However, these investments fall short of what the plan itself identifies as necessary. Texas now has 16 mobile youth crisis teams and 23 MST teams, well below the roughly 40 crisis teams and 140 MST teams the strategic plan calls for statewide, according to Texans Care for Children.
The Youth Empowerment Services, or YES, waiver—a Medicaid program helping children with significant mental health needs receive intensive services at home and in communities—faced particular strain. Lawmakers cut about $1.3 million from the program despite rising demand. In 2023, there were about 3,109 inquiries for YES services, while only roughly 2,227 children actually received them, leaving nearly 900 kids waiting. Hundreds of providers exited the program between 2020 and 2023.
Consequences and Advocacy Priorities
Advocates warn the gaps will mean longer waitlists, more children pushed into foster care, and more kids ending up in crisis placements instead of receiving help in their communities. According to Texans Care for Children, six percent of Texas youth are entering the foster care system due to unmet mental health services or care.
The children’s behavioral health strategic plan, released in December 2024, lays out 31 specific recommendations to expand prevention, crisis response, and community-based care across state agencies. For the next legislative session, Texans Care for Children identified five high-priority moves: restore the YES waiver cut and increase funding to match need levels, expand Medicaid coverage of community-based services, scale crisis programs to true 24/7 availability, strengthen the behavioral health workforce especially in rural areas, and implement modern data systems that track outcomes.
Advocacy groups and state agencies have requested coordinated appropriations totaling roughly $61.9 million for 2026-27. Advocates and providers say the 2025 spending was a necessary start but falls short of a full strategy, with continued pressure expected when lawmakers return in 2027.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://hoodline.com/2026/02/texas-kids-left-hanging-as-capitol-stalls-on-mental-health-lifeline/