Our Mission
The Veterans Mental Health Department (VMHD) is a branch of the Texas Veterans Commission. The Veterans Mental Health Department is focused on ensuring access to competent mental health services for service members, veterans, and their families.
VMHD accomplishes this task by providing training, certification, and technical assistance across Texas.
In addition to connecting veterans in need directly to local services, VMHD also works with partners at the national, state, and local level to address veteran-specific issues including suicide prevention/intervention, veteran homelessness, military cultural competency, peer support services, military-related trauma, women and rural veterans, and justice involvement.
Across all programming, VMHD is fortunate to have the broadest definition of veteran regardless of discharge status, branch of services, or having served one day or a career. All services including training, technical assistance, and direct services provided across VMHD programming are offered freely to all who are in need.
Programs
While suicide is often thought of as an individual problem, it has devastating impacts on families, loved ones, and communities making it a public health issue. Our goal is to reduce Veteran suicide across Texas through collaboration with national, state, and local partnerships and initiatives bringing together many different resources, perspectives, and strategies aimed at saving the lives of Texas Veterans.
Peer-to-Peer Support
The MVPN is made of TVC-Certified Peer Service Coordinators and their peer volunteers strategically placed within the local mental health authorities across Texas to create a statewide peer-to-peer network for any service member, veteran, or family member.
Through training, technical assistance, and certification to Local Mental Health Authority-based Military Veteran Peer Network (MVPN) Peer Service Coordinators (PSCs) and their Peers – we create a statewide network of military trauma-affected Veteran peer support.
The MVPN provides services including direct peer-to-peer support, training on suicide prevention and military cultural competency, coordination of mental health first aid, and warm-handoffs to local resources based on the individual needs of the veteran and family.
The Justice Involved Veteran (JIV) Program works to improve veteran services across the entire criminal justice continuum. The JIV Managers serve as resource to provide technical assistance and training to all Veteran Treatment Courts across Texas.
The JIV Program also partners with the local and state law enforcement to deliver officers relevant trainings such as trauma affected veterans and crisis intervention strategies. JIV Managers also collaborate with the local jail and state prison systems to better ensure that incarcerated veterans have access to veteran-specific services and programming.
The Homeless Veteran Program is housed within the Veterans Mental Health Department of the Texas Veterans Commission. The goal is to improve the accessibility of resources and services for military veterans and their loved ones in Texas that are experiencing homelessness or are at-risk of becoming homeless. The Program will identify and highlight services aimed at preventing veterans from entering homelessness and provide trainings to direct service providers. Additionally, resource clinics will be provided directly to veteran families.
The aim of the Provider Training Program is to offer licensed clinicians and any mental health professionals with training and technical assistance aimed at promoting military cultural competency. Based on the unique mental health needs of the veteran community, the Provider Training Program offers trainings tailored to the needs of the audience as it relates to suicide prevention, lethal means restriction, military traumas, and evidence-based practices.
The intent of the Rural Community & Faith-Based Partnership Program is to involve community & faith-based organizations in developing and implementing strategies to support the wellbeing of veterans and their families residing in the rural areas of Texas. There are 254 counties in Texas, of which 144 to 191 are considered rural, frontier, or “micropolitan”. VMHD aims to address the mounting need of services in these rural areas of Texas by engaging and involving local community & faith-based organizations. This is done through building and strengthening local veteran coalitions, identifying and eliminating barriers to accessing services, developing military cultural competency among local stakeholders, and leveraging veteran peer support where clinical mental health services may be inaccessible. In addition to training and technical assistance, this aim is accomplished through the implementation of the Faith & Allegiance Initiative.
