Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States with roughly 2.3 million residents. Public mental-health services in Harris County are coordinated by The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD — historically known as MHMRA (Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County) — Texas's largest Local Mental Health Authority. This guide maps the public agencies, the academic psychiatry hubs, the safety-net hospitals, and the crisis numbers that families actually call.
In Houston, public schizophrenia care is delivered by The Harris Center (the local LMHA, formerly MHMRA), with academic anchor centres at UTHealth McGovern and Baylor's Menninger Department, safety-net hospitals through Harris Health, and 24/7 crisis access at (713) 970-7000 or 988.
Texas Medicaid and access
Texas did not expand Medicaid, so most adults without children, disability, or pregnancy do not qualify regardless of income. Adults with schizophrenia who receive SSI typically enrol in STAR+PLUS, the state's Medicaid managed-care program for people with disabilities. Plans active in Harris County include Amerigroup, Molina, Superior, and UnitedHealthcare. Information is on hhs.texas.gov.
The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD
The Harris Center serves more than 80,000 people each year and operates dozens of clinics, the NeuroPsychiatric Center (NPC) for inpatient and emergency care, ACT teams, supported housing, and the county's mobile crisis service. The Harris Center accepts Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance, and serves uninsured residents on a sliding scale. Specialty programs include the RAISE-affiliated Coordinated Specialty Care program for first-episode psychosis and an extensive forensic and jail-diversion infrastructure.
Academic psychiatry centres
- UTHealth Houston / McGovern Medical School — Louis A. Faillace, MD Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, with the Schizophrenia Research Program at the Texas Medical Center, the UTHealth Harris County Psychiatric Center (HCPC), and the early-psychosis CARE Clinic.
- Baylor College of Medicine — Menninger Department of Psychiatry — outpatient and inpatient services in partnership with the Menninger Clinic in West Houston.
- The Menninger Clinic — long-stay specialty psychiatric hospital known for treatment-resistant cases.
- UT MD Anderson and Houston Methodist — psychiatric consult-liaison services and outpatient clinics.
Safety-net and county hospitals
Harris Health System is the county hospital district. Ben Taub Hospital and LBJ Hospital both have psychiatric emergency services; Harris Health runs Community Health Programs (CHPs) for outpatient psychiatry across the county. The Harris County Psychiatric Center (HCPC), operated by UTHealth on the Texas Medical Center campus, is one of the largest free-standing psychiatric hospitals in Texas and accepts both voluntary and emergency-detention admissions.
Community providers
- Houston Recovery Center — sobering centre for people in alcohol/drug crisis, including co-occurring disorders.
- Mental Health America of Greater Houston — advocacy, education, peer specialist training.
- Council on Recovery, The Beacon, SEARCH Homeless Services — wraparound services for people experiencing homelessness with mental illness.
- Hope Clinic — federally qualified health center serving Asian American and immigrant communities, with behavioural-health services.
Advocacy: NAMI in Houston
NAMI Greater Houston runs Family-to-Family classes, support groups, and a helpline. NAMI affiliates also serve neighbouring Fort Bend, Brazoria, and Montgomery counties. The state branch is NAMI Texas.
Crisis services
- 988 — routes to local crisis lines.
- The Harris Center Crisis Line: (713) 970-7000 — 24/7 access for Harris County residents; can dispatch the Mobile Crisis Outreach Team (MCOT) and CIT-Mental Health Officer co-responders.
- Crisis Intervention Response Team (CIRT) — Houston Police Department mental-health officers paired with Harris Center clinicians for many high-acuity calls.
The Harris Center also operates a Crisis Stabilisation Unit and a Crisis Residential Unit as 23-hour and short-stay alternatives to the ER.
Your loved one is voicing thoughts of suicide, threatening harm, or unable to keep themselves safe — call 988, The Harris Center crisis line at (713) 970-7000, or 911 and request a CIRT or Mental Health Officer responder.
Civil commitment in Texas
Texas emergency detention is governed by Chapter 573 of the Texas Health and Safety Code. Police officers (or, by warrant, designated clinicians) can detain someone for up to 48 hours of evaluation. Court-ordered mental health services under Chapter 574 can extend to 90 days inpatient/outpatient or 12 months of extended commitment. Texas allows court-ordered outpatient mental health services as its version of assisted outpatient treatment.
Practical first steps
- Call The Harris Center at (713) 970-7000 — works 24/7 and is the entry point for most public services in Houston.
- If on Medicaid, ask your STAR+PLUS plan which behavioural-health providers are in network.
- For first-episode psychosis, ask The Harris Center about its CSC team or contact UTHealth's CARE Clinic directly.
- Connect with NAMI Greater Houston for Family-to-Family classes and a peer support group.
- For inpatient psychiatric emergencies, Ben Taub, LBJ, HCPC, and Memorial Hermann all accept emergency detention.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified mental health professional. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 in the US, or your local emergency number.