1
Children
and Families
2024
HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The Meadows Institute advanced a constellation of programs and initiatives designed to identify childhood mental illness early, when needs are more treatable, and to better ensure that children and youth don’t reach the point of crisis. We also supported the people who care for kids, from parents and extended family to doctors and educators, to promote their long-term well-being and resilience.
Preventing Tragedy: A Trusted Adult for Every Child
In the wake of the Uvalde tragedy, the Meadows Institute helped leaders in Texas recognize that the youth mental health crisis requires extraordinary action, not incremental change. By expanding proven programs that deliver the right level of mental health care to the right children at the right time, lawmakers positioned the state to bend the curve on youth violence and suicide within 10 years.
- Texas now provides 80% of students with access to free, same-day urgent mental health services during the school day via Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) — and we are part of the Texas Child Mental Health Consortium, which was created by the Legislature and is working to make TCHATT available in every district across the state.
- In partnership with the Texas Council of Community Centers, the Meadows Institute designed and led statewide trainings for new Youth Crisis Outreach Teams (YCOT) serving 40 counties that wrap children and families in essential care to support them through a mental health crisis — and beyond — to avoid future problems.
- We partnered with providers and communities to support the ramp-up of Multisystemic Therapy (MST), the most effective program in the nation for children and their families who are most at risk. MST keeps youth safely at home, in school, or employed and out of trouble, and it prevents future incidents of violence by an astounding 75% over 20 years.
- We created the North Texas Handle with Care (HWC) Network with a generous grant from the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Fund at Communities Foundation of Texas. The initiative enhances communication and coordination between law enforcement and school districts to connect children with mental health providers in the aftermath of violence and other traumatic experiences. Now more than 69,000 students in the Irving and Richardson school districts have access to a network of care to help end potential cycles of trauma before they begin.
“Best-in-practice care like MST is often an excellent alternative to institutional care and enables the successful diversion of youth away from the justice system.”
— Kate Volti, senior vice president for children's specialty healthcare
Minding Maternal Health
The Hackett Center for Mental Health, serving Harris County and the Greater Gulf Coast, launched a comprehensive campaign to elevate women’s behavioral health, especially during pregnancy and other key transitions. We’re focusing on prevention and intervention so women can get the support they need during life’s biggest moments. To learn more about the impact of The Hackett Center, read its annual report for 2024.
Hope in Higher Education
We launched the Minding College Minds Learning Community to help Texas community colleges support the mental health of their students and staff and boost academic achievement. The inaugural learning community serves 13 community colleges and 225,000 students.
“The Minding College Minds initiative will serve as a model for enhancing mental health support on college campuses.”
— Kristin Boyer, executive director of Trellis Foundation
4. 5 Million
The number of K-12 and college students across Texas our efforts helped support.
Community-Based Support for Families
The Meadows Institute is increasingly sharing our resources coast to coast. Drawing from our successes in Texas and partnering with like-minded organizations across the nation, we designed customized solutions to improve the mental health outcomes of children and families.
- In Florida: We collaborated with the Florida Chamber of Commerce to design a blueprint for behavioral health innovation, underscoring the business community’s vital role in ensuring employees and their families have the mental health support they need to thrive.
- In Colorado: The Penner Family Foundation engaged the Meadows Institute to complete a statewide assessment of youth mental health that will be released publicly in the spring of 2025.
- In New York: With support from the Emmet Family Charitable Foundation, we undertook an in-depth assessment of local services and delivered tailored strategies to help position the foundation to accelerate its vital work to improve the lives of children and families across Westchester County.
- Nationwide: Thanks to a grant from the New York Life Foundation, we began replicating our singular Trauma and Grief (TAG) Center at children’s hospitals across the country, providing best-in-class care to youth experiencing trauma and loss.
Help for the Most Vulnerable
The Trauma and Grief (TAG) Center at The Hackett Center for Mental Health expanded its efforts to raise the standard of care for youth exposed to trauma and bereavement. In 2024 alone, the TAG Center trained 639 clinicians and served more than 800 youth. Other highlights include:
- 30 El Paso-based professionals received critical training to provide Trauma and Grief Component Therapy to children and families by our Paso del Norte Center and Trauma and Grief (TAG) Center with support from Reach Resilience.
- TAG Center Executive Director Julie Kaplow and her colleagues authored key chapters on pediatric mental health and prolonged grief disorder in Rudolph’s Pediatrics, 24th ed., a leading textbook among health care professionals.
- A sought-after expert in the field, Kaplow began writing a new bi-monthly column for Psychology Today.
