Healthy Community Collaborative

The Healthy Community Collaborative program promotes collaboration between public and private sectors to integrate services for people experiencing homelessness and mental illness and/or substance use disorders. HCC promotes a person's recovery and reintegration into the community.

This program serves people 18 and older who are homeless and have a mental illness or who might also have co-occurring substance use or primary care health issues.

To learn more about HCC and other housing programs, visit the Adult Mental Health Housing webpage.

Healthy Community Collaborative Rural Expansion

The S.B. 1849, 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, provided the basis for expanding the HCC program into less dense populated areas of the state. This shifted the geographic priority of the program by giving preference to counties with less than 100,000 inhabitants. New legislation also required HCC sites to work with local law enforcement to divert HCC eligible individuals from correctional facilities (for example, jails) to treatment facilities or other supports.  Procurements for funding rural areas was completed in fiscal year 2019.

Current Healthy Community Collaboratives

  • North Texas Behavioral Authority (Dallas)
  • Haven for Hope (San Antonio)
  • Integral Care (Austin)
  • My Health My Resources of Tarrant County (Fort Worth)
  • The Harris Center (Houston)
  • Crisis Center of Comal County (New Braunfels)
  • Andrews Center

The Third-Party Evaluator from HCC is the Texas Institute of Excellence in Mental Health from The University of Texas Austin.

Training

HCC providers are skilled in understanding how to apply a Housing First approach to their programming. Housing First ensures HCC programming is low-demand on the participant (in other words, voluntary) and low barrier (for example, not requiring sobriety to access). In addition, HCC staff receive training and supervision in harm reduction, motivational interviewing, employment support, peer support and permanent supportive housing. These evidence-based approaches provide the tools needed to better serve people experiencing homelessness.

Statutes and Rules

State Legislation

  • S.B. 58, 83rd Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, required legacy Department of State Health Services to create a grant program to establish or expand community collaborators that provide services to people experiencing issues related to mental health and homelessness. The 2014-2015 General Appropriations Act, S.B. 1, 83rd Legislature, 2013 (Article II, DSHS Rider 90) appropriated $25 million to award a maximum of five grants in municipalities located in counties with a population over 1 million. The Legislature continued funding the collaborators for the 2016-2017 and 2018-2019 biennia.
  • S.B. 1849, 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, provided the basis for expanding the HCC program into less densely populated areas of the state.

Rule References

HCC providers comply with the Texas Administrative Code and federal housing laws. Housing providers in the supportive housing portion of the program shall maintain compliance with local landlord tenant laws within their jurisdiction and the following federal housing laws: