Vankey Jones sits in her room at the Harris Center where she is part of the county’s mental health jail diversion program on February 21, 2023.Ever since she got out of prison more than two years ago, Vankey Jones has had a rough go of it. She landed in prison after she got in a fight with a man who she said pushed her elderly mother down at a Burlington Coat Factory. It was a bad fight and the felony conviction stuck with her.
Addressing the crisis at the county’s jail, now under investigation by the FBI, means holding fewer people in jail and for less time. Diversion programs are just one piece of that. And the program is just one piece of what Harris Center, the largest mental health and developmental disability care center in Texas, does.
While heaven might be free to clients, it still costs. That’s why a group of mayors including Houston Mayor Sylvester Turnerrecently asking the Legislature for almost $156 million to fund salary increases for the 39 community mental health centers across the state, matching what’s already been promised to employees working in state hospitals and state-supported living centers.
The southeast campus doesn’t have many frills. It is located in a former hospital tucked behind an apartment complex and was once slated to become a detention center for children separated from adults at the border. There’s an outdoor area with workout equipment, basketball hoops and a fledgling garden. There are a few lounge areas inside and a small cafeteria. Most of the rest of the center is bedrooms and treatment spaces.