Civic, government leaders meet to activate groups within public health advisory coalition
One of Kendall County Sheriff Al Auxier’s responsibilities is direction and management of the county jail. First elected in 2013, the sheriff said it didn’t take him long to realize the jail population had a large percentage of people dealing with mental health issues.
“I found out very quickly, and this is true throughout the country, that the local jail becomes your mental health facility,” Auxier said. “And that’s not a good thing. We’re not doing these folks justice.”
Auxier and a dozen civic and government leaders met November 29 as the Kendall County Behavioral Health Advisory Coalition, to start turning words into action.
“I began looking for ways to find these folks some help. I attended lots of conferences, lots of training sessions, and the news was not good,” Auxier said. “I was told time and time again, ‘This is your problem, you need to figure it out.’ So we began gathering folks together and having these conversations … which resulted in the (public health) initiative, which resulted in where we are today.”
The Behavioral Health Advisory Coalition organized to launch a concerted effort to coordinate and improve mental health response and close gaps that exist in responding service.
Hill Country Family Services’ Bryce Boddie explained how the Behavioral Health Initiative started in January 2021 and ended April 2023 with the formation of the advisory coalition.
'We brought people to the table to talk about gaps in behavioral health services,” Boddie said. “It's very important that we fill these gaps.
“What I’m hoping you’re hearing is, everything goes hand in hand. Without school district participation, without law enforcement’s participation, without the county, our DA’s office, our local mental health authority, our local nonprofits, our individuals in this community, we can't have appropriate health and measures that just address one thing; they have to address everything,” Boddie said.
Everyone, in some form or fashion, Auxier said, has experienced -- either personally, through friends or family, through co-workers, or knows somebody that has -- some type of mental behavioral issue, whether it’s temporary or a longterm, diagnosed issue.
He said the sheriff ’s office responded by hiring two full-time mental health officers, which was about the extent of what his office could do with its manpower and budget.
“This is a community problem, this is a countywide problem, this is a national problem,” the sheriff said. “What you have before you today speaks volumes about how good this community is addressing this issue that affects so many people.
“You have all the major civic leaders that have come together to recognize and realize that this is one issue that affects everybody,” Auxier added.
Coalition co-chairs Auxier and Boerne Police Chief Steve Perez both have experience with people in dire crisis mode when officers arrive at the scene.
“But It's not just the person who is in crisis,” Perez said. “It’s the family and those who are with those people that are feeling the brunt of it as well.”
Perez reviewed the current existing options for law enforcement when encountering a situation where mental health and substance abuse issues come into play.
“There’s not a whole lot of options. Sometimes we do have to take them to jail. It’s a fine line between the criminal laws they may break, like assaulting a family member,” the police chief said.
“Sometimes we do have to take them to jail, but we also know that they need more than just to sit in a jail cell, they need that counseling service, they need therapies, they need medications, there’s a whole list of things we need to be aware of,” the chief added.
Staci Almager, Hill Country Family Services CEO, said involvement by individuals and organizations is key to bridging gaps and bringing services together.
“When I look out among those who have convened here, I see my son, I see my neighbors, I see the educators of my children, I see individuals I work with, that I go to church with, and therefore you are our community,” she said. “And what greater responsibility of those here, than to take care of each other?”
She said getting involved is the answer to one common statement, when people are faced with a crisis, of any kind.
“A common reaction, ‘But I don’t know how,’” she said. “We want to encourage everyone to think about what resources you have available in you.
“Get involved. We want to inspire everyone,” she said. “Take what is most passionate for you and lean into something that affects all of us. If we are all engaged, if we are all involved, all we will see is progress and a stronger community.”
Auxier echoed her statement.
“What we have here today is a holistic community approach,” Auxier said. “We’re all in this. We need to deal with this because it impacts everybody. And that’s our job, to figure out for ourselves what direction, where those gaps are and how we can fill those gaps, then provide the resources, the funding, because these are the people that make those decisions.”
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