Texas Panhandle Mental Health Mental Retardation
Texas Panhandle Mental Health Mental Retardation
Texas State Schools are a collection of residential facilities run by the state for people with developmental disabilities in Texas, United States. The schools, operated by the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, operate under the Federal ICF-MR program.
The 13 state mental retardation facilities provide round-the-clock care for more than 4,500 Texans with severe or profound mental retardation and people with mental retardation who are medically fragile or who have behavioral issues. The average age of residents is 46, and 72 percent of residents have profound or severe mental retardation (i.e., IQ is below 40).
On May 20, 2009, the state reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on a comprehensive action plan to improve care and coordination of services for persons who reside at state schools. The agreement outlines the state's plan to address issues identified by the Department of Justice in 2006 and 2008.
Abilene State School
Abilene State School, located in Abilene, is home to approximately 500 people with developmental disabilities. Among amenities are two guest houses for visiting family members, a nature area, and a large park and playground area. The nature area and park are open to the public.
The site that was to become Abilene State School was originally a State Epileptic Colony. The project was launched in 1897 when Governor Joseph D. Sayer appointed a commission to select the site. The institution was to be patterned after the Craig Colony in New York, and was originally intended to house five hundred people.
Citizens of Abilene were eager to have the state select a nearby site, for the boost it would provide to the local economy. Since the water supply was poor, residents banded together to purchase land to build Lytle Lake. Citizens also donated $3,200 for the city to purchase 640 acres (2.6 km 2 ) of land to be given to the state for the institution.The Texas legislature unanimously approved the site in February 1899.
Construction, coordinated by Dr. John Preston, cost $200,000. The project consisted of an administration building, a power plant, one hospital each for men and women, four cottages, and a residence for the superintendent. The State Epileptic Colony was officially opened on March 26, 1904, with a population of 104 patients. Some were admitted free, and others paid $5 a week for room, board, medication, and care. By August 1904, the population was 201.Dr. T.B.Bass served as superintendent from 1909 to 1943. During his tenure, droughts caused water shortages and hurt crop production. World War I siphoned off staff, and wartime inflation caused fiscal hardship. The institution faced outbreaks of flu, small pox, and measles.
In 1925, the State Epileptic Colony began admitting residents with mental illness as well as those with epilepsy. The name was changed to Abilene State Hospital.
The campus had expanded to sixty-three buildings by 1943, including officers' quarters, physicians' cottages, two hospitals, twenty-eight "wards", and a number of barns. The population of patients grew to 1,324.
Dr. Bass retired in 1943, and the institution went through a series of superintendents while the facility continued to expand. In 1949, the hospital began accepting African-American patients. Medical treatment was considered state-of-the-art, and the facility was self-sufficient. Mrs. May Corley, the hospital's first sociologist, said, "Everybody who lived and worked here had a job to do."
In 1957, the name of the facility was changed to Abilene State School, due to a shift in purpose to caring for people with developmental disabilities. This also allowed for the admission of children. M.J. Kelly, director for the State Board of Hospitals and Special Schools, said, "Instead of making these institutions places to retain patients, we intend to make them centers for curing patients and putting them on the road to recovery. We want all those children who can learn to receive the best of instruction." On October 31, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed a bill providing federal aid for research, training, and rehabilitation for people with mental retardation throughout the country, which allowed increases in staff-to-patient ratios.
Austin State School
Austin State School, located in Austin, is home to approximately 440 people with developmental disabilities. The campus includes a canteen, infirmary, theater, nature trail, indoor pool and Jacuzzi, athletic field, a chapel with stained glass windows, and a guest house for visiting family members.
It was launched in 1915, when the Texas legislature passed House Bill 57, creating the State Colony for the Feebleminded, as the first facility specifically to house citizens with mental retardation. It was renamed Austin State School in 1925. The initial census was 65 residents, mostly female. At its peak Austin State School had a census of 2,000 and included a working dairy farm.
In 1965, the Texas Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act authorized county mental retardation centers, with the aim of helping people with mild retardation to live with their families. This caused a shift in the population of residents in State Schools to those with more profound mental retardation and multiple disabilities. By 1974, Austin State School's population had been reduced to 1,400.
Brenham State School
Brenham State School houses approximately 400 residents in 11 residential buildings on 200 acres (0.8 km 2 ) in unincorporated Washington County, south of Brenham and between Austin and Houston. The state school serves a southeast Texas area including Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Montgomery, Robertson, Walker, and Washington counties. It is the largest employer in Brenham.
Brenham state school opened in January 1974, and was the first of the Texas State Schools to be certified as an ICF-MR (Intermediate Care Facility - Mental Retardation).
Brenham State school features a nature area, primarily for use of residents and family members but also available on a limited basis to outside organizations and citizens. Facilities include a log cabin, picnic area, and restrooms. The campus also has a park with a picnic area and pavilion.
Corpus Christi State School
Corpus Christi State School, located in western Corpus Christi, is on 104 acres (0.4 km 2 ) that was originally the city’s Cliff Maus Airport.
It has 15 residential buildings serving approximately 370 residents ranging in age from 18 to 77 years. Specialized treatment units serve individuals with severe behavioral and/or emotional problems and more than 800 professionals and paraprofessionals are employed.
Corpus Christi State School opened in April 1970 as an independent school district for children with developmental disabilities. The original campus was 201 acres (0.8 km 2 ) in size.
On March 10, 2009, some Corpus Christi State School employees were accused of staging 'fight clubs' with the mentally-challenged residents. There are cell phone videos of some of the fights that have reportedly been going on even while the state school was being investigated for allegations of abuse.
Denton State School
Denton State School, located in southeastern Denton 4 miles (6 km) south of Downtown Denton and 30 miles (50 km) north of Downtown Dallas, houses approximately 650 residents, many of whom are medically fragile and require constant medical care. Most have severe to profound mental retardation and over half navigate the campus with wheelchairs or power chairs. The Denton State School employs about 1,500 staff and has a budget in excess of $44 million annually.
The campus has a central kitchen, 30-bed infirmary, canteen, cemetery, dental clinic, beauty shop, swimming pool, sheltered workshops, and central laundry. It also features one guest house and one guest apartment for visiting family members.
The Denton Chamber of Commerce learned in the late 1950s that the state was planning to build a mental retardation facility in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Citizens donated money for the purchase of 200 acres (0.8 km 2 ) of land, and the land was donated to the state with the stipulation that it be used to provide services to people with mental retardation.
The Denton State School was established in 1960 by the legislature, and opened in July of that year. By the end of the year it was housing 1,700 residents.
El Paso State Center
Opened in 1974, the El Paso State Center answered the community need for a long-term care facility for people with mental retardation in West Texas. The center is home to 150 people who live in eight cottages and three 16-bed units.
Located in the City of El Paso and serving El Paso County, the center employs approximately 300 people.
Lubbock State School
Opened in June 1969, the Lubbock State School, located in Lubbock, serves 54 counties in the Texas Panhandle, under the leadership of campus superintendent Kristin Weems. The campus is home to approximately 310 individuals, of whom 66 percent are male and 34 percent female. The average age is 45.
The school employs approximately 790 people.
Lufkin State School
Opened in 1962, the Lufkin State School is located in the heart of East Texas. The facility serves 28 counties and is home to approximately 400 people who have mental retardation and varying degrees of disability.
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Board of Directors - Texas Council of Community Mental Health Mental ...
Texas Panhandle MHMR Larry Adams The Center for Health Care Services Sam Williams, Jr. The Center for Life Resources Saul Pullman The Gulf Coast Center
MENTAL HEALTH OR MENTAL RETARDATION (MHMR) CENTER
MENTAL HEALTH OR MENTAL RETARDATION (MHMR) CENTER Access MHMR - Anderson and Cherokee Counties 913 North ... Airport Avenue, Bldg A Rosenberg, Texas 77471 Phone: 281-239-1307 Texas Panhandle ...
Center Directory - Texas Council of Community Mental Health Mental ...
Texas Panhandle MHMR. http://www.tpmhmr.org/ Hon. Willis Smith. Board Chair. Bud Schertler ... The Center for Health Care Services. http://www.chcsbc.org. Margaret Vera. Board Chair
The Texas Department of State Health Services ...
The Texas Department of State Health Services - Community Mental Health Centers ... Texas Panhandle MHMR 1500 S. Taylor Amarillo, TX 79101 Crisis Phone: 800-692-4039
Texas Office of the Governor, Texas Mental Health/Mental Retardation ...
The Texas Mental Health Mental Retardation (TXMHMR) Facility Review Task Force was created as ... Texas Panhandle Mental Health Authority, 1991-1992: Beaumont State Center ...
Volunteer | www.tpmhmr.org
Texas Panhandle Mental Health and Mental Retardation
Home | www.tpmhmr.org
Mission Statement: To respond to the diverse needs of all people with mental illness and mental retardation by creating an accessible system of services which ...
Texas Office of the Governor, Texas Mental Health/Mental Retardation ...
Texas Office of the Governor, Texas Mental Health/Mental Retardation Facility Review Task Force ... Texas Panhandle Mental Health Authority, 1991-1992: Beaumont State Center ...
Mental Health and Mental Retardation Solutions in Texas | El Paso MHMR ...
Texas Council of Community Mental Health Mental Retardation Centers, Inc. ... Texas Panhandle MHMR (Amarillo) MHMR Services of Texoma (Denison) ...
Crisis Help - Texas Panhandle Mental Health Mental Retardation ...
Texas Panhandle Mental Health Mental Retardation - Suicide & Crisis Ce Address: 1501 South Polk Street City: Amarillo State: Texas Phone: (806)359-6699
