The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health is excited to announce that ten nonprofit advocacy groups received a total of $1.2 million in grants over two years to hire in-house policy fellows. The fellows will receive intensive training, education and experience in mental health advocacy and policy work.
The foundation first launched the Mental Health Policy Academy and Fellows initiative in 2010. The grant program builds both individual and organizational capacity for effective mental health policy and advocacy work.
In 2016, the initiative was expanded with the launch of the Peer Policy Fellows program. This program built on our existing fellows program by creating a track for peer policy fellows, increasing the role and voice of consumers in mental health policy development and implementation.
Each fellow is provided with an experienced mentor. Both fellows and mentors attend the Hogg Mental Health Policy Academy. The academy provides training and support for the fellows, their mentors and others involved in advocacy work in Texas.
Recipients of the Peer Policy Fellow grants are:
- Coalition of Texans with Disabilities ($132,000)
- National Alliance on Mental Illness Texas ($128,000)
- Prosumers International ($129,000)
- RecoveryPeople ($126,000)
- Texas Criminal Justice Coalition ($149,000)
Recipients of the Policy Fellow grants are:
- Girls Empowerment Network ($134,000)
- Network of Behavioral Health Providers ($148,000)
- Texas Center for Child and Family Studies ($144,000)
- Texas Network of Youth Services ($141,000)
- Young Invincibles ($126,000)
“The next legislative session will be taking place either amid the COVID-19 pandemic or in its immediate aftermath, so the state’s mental health needs will be especially severe,” said Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., executive director of the Hogg Foundation and senior associate vice president for diversity and community engagement at The University of Texas at Austin. “We all stand to benefit from the difficult and important work that these policy fellows will be doing.”