Eagle Pass City Councilman Elias Diaz Named to Texas HHS Behavioral Health Advisory Committee
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2022
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHS) announced that Eagle Pass City Councilman Elias Diaz has been named as one of 19 Texans selected to the Behavioral Health Advisory Committee after a rigorous application process.
Diaz is a licensed Mental Health Clinician with the Maverick County Hospital District’s Behavioral Health Department and has a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University in Los Angeles, California and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. He is certified by the Academy of Cognitive Therapy in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and has specialized training in Prolonged Exposure from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
The Texas HHS Behavioral Health Advisory Committee (BHAC) serves as the state mental health planning council. The purpose of the Behavioral Health Advisory Committee is to provide customer/consumer and stakeholder input to the Health and Human Services system in the form of recommendations regarding the allocation and adequacy of behavioral health services and programs within the State of Texas. The BHAC considers and makes recommendations to the HHS Executive Commissioner consistent with the committee’s purpose.
BHAC recommends access to services and supports in urban, rural, and frontier areas areas of the state as well as to special populations; the promotion of cross-agency coordination, state/local and public/private partnerships in the funding and delivery of behavioral health services; the promotion of data-driven decision-making; the promotion of behavioral health and substance use disorder services in prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery services and supports; the integration of behavioral health services and supports with physical health service delivery; rules, policies, programs, initiatives, and grant proposals/awards for behavioral health services; and create a five year behavioral health strategic plan and coordinating expenditure plan.
Diaz’s appointment to the BHAC is until August 31, 2024.
