By Farabee                                           H.C.R. No. 268
         77R14348 GMW-F                           
                             HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-1           WHEREAS, The U.S. Surgeon General states that mental health
 1-2     contributes to community and society and is fundamental to ensuring
 1-3     both a sense of personal well-being and the ability to establish
 1-4     rewarding interpersonal relationships; and
 1-5           WHEREAS, Mental illness affects one in five Americans every
 1-6     year, regardless of age, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, or
 1-7     economic status; and
 1-8           WHEREAS, A range of effective treatments exists for most
 1-9     mental disorders, and Texas has made a commitment to supporting the
1-10     use of new generations of medications and community-based systems
1-11     of care for all residents; and
1-12           WHEREAS, Challenges continue to exist for implementing
1-13     effective and aggressive community services through Texas' public
1-14     mental health system, thus leading thousands of Texans with mental
1-15     illnesses into the criminal justice system; and
1-16           WHEREAS, The guiding principles of community mental health
1-17     care have always been comprehensiveness, cost-efficiency, effective
1-18     management, and high-quality, consumer-responsive services, and
1-19     these principles are now being adopted by private and public health
1-20     care payors; and
1-21           WHEREAS, The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Texas
1-22     has named May 2001 as Mental Health Month in Texas, and it is
1-23     indeed appropriate that we join with this organization in helping
1-24     to raise awareness and understanding of mental health and illness;
 2-1     now, therefore, be it
 2-2           RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
 2-3     hereby designate May 2001 as Mental Health Month in the Lone Star
 2-4     State and encourage all Texas citizens, government agencies, public
 2-5     and private institutions, businesses, and schools to commemorate
 2-6     this observance by recommitting our community to becoming more
 2-7     informed about mental health and mental illness and the need for
 2-8     appropriate and accessible services for all people with mental
 2-9     health disorders.