Overview
The Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (TCMHCC) was created by the 86th Texas Legislature to leverage the expertise and capacity of the health-related institutions of higher education to address urgent mental health challenges and improve the mental health care system in this state in relation to children and adolescents.
Staff & Leadership
The Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (TCMHCC) is staffed by The University of Texas System, through a contract with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
David Lakey, MD, University of Texas System
Presiding Officer
David Lakey is Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer for The University of Texas System. He is also Senior Adviser to the President at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. Dr. Lakey served as Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services from January 2007 to February 2015.
Currently he serves on the March of Dimes Board of Trustees and the Trust for America’s Health Board of Directors. He earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, graduating with high honors from Rose‐Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana, and received his medical degree with honors from Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Lakey was a resident in internal medicine and pediatric medicine and completed a fellowship in adult and pediatric infectious disease at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
Nagla Elerian, MS, University of Texas System
Executive Director
Nagla Elerian is the Director of Population Health Strategic Initiatives at the Office of Health Affairs at UT System. Prior to joining the UT System, Nagla was the Director of the Center for Health Statistics at the Department of State Health Services. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology and a Master of Science in Health Statistics with a minor in Geography. In 1995, Nagla established the first electronic Birth Defects registry in Texas. In 1998, she established an evaluation program for Medicaid managed care where she initiated many improvements to the Medicaid managed care data and reporting. In 2000, she joined the NorthSTAR program where she initiated many reporting mechanisms to allow the use and sharing of data for program improvements. In 2007, Nagla joined the Decision Support unit at the Mental Health and Substance Abuse, where she developed through a multi-stakeholder collaboration the risk assessment tools to allow the state to evaluate and manage mental health centers and substance abuse providers using financial, access, quality and outcome indicators.
Sarah McLaughlin, LCSW, University of Texas System
Project Manager
Sarah McLaughlin, LCSW, is the Project Manager for the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium. Prior to her work at the UT System, she developed and facilitated trauma-focused wellness programming for Google Trust & Safety teams. She received her BSW and MSSW from the University of Texas at Austin and has dedicated her last 10 years working as a manager, therapist and social worker serving mental health needs in the Travis County area, primarily with youth and families. Sarah finds passion in her work to improve health outcomes through research, planning, and measurable action with a focus on trauma, development, and systems.
Rachel Jew, University of Texas System
Senior Program Manager
Rachel Jew is the Senior Program Manager for the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (TCMHCC), overseeing the Consortium’s programs, initiatives, and project staff. She previously served as the Project Manager for TCMHCC’s Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) program. Before joining UT System, she managed policy projects and oversaw global strategies to improve job content at Indeed. Rachel has over a decade of public health program and project management experience, primarily at the Texas Department of State Health Services, with expertise in maternal and child health. Rachel also has previous experience in data analysis and program evaluation. She received a master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
Lainie McCorkle, University of Texas System
Communications Manager
Lainie McCorkle is the Communications Manager for the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium. Prior to joining the UT System, Lainie was the Senior Media Relations Officer for San Diego State University (SDSU) where she contributed to the development of a campus communications ecosystem, the approval and development of a new stadium and campus and the rebranding and 125th anniversary for the university’s multiple campuses. Additionally, Lainie lead a push for increased local, regional, national and international media mentions and subject-matter expert coverage for the university, initiatives, research, student success stories and faculty. Lainie earned her BA in Journalism from SDSU and has worked as a print and online journalist and live television news producer. She is a passionate storyteller with a commitment to making communications effective and accessible for all.
Alex Vlahodimitropoulos, University of Texas System
Financial and Contracts Manager
Alex Vlahodimitropoulos is the Financial and Contracts Manager for the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium. Prior to joining the UT System, Alex was a Finance Manager at UT Austin Dell Medical School providing budgetary support and analysis to all divisions at the School. She has over 10 years of experience providing budget, financial, and performance management in higher education, local government, and state agencies. Alex has a Bachelor of Arts in Government from the University of Texas and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Texas State University.
Monae Thomas, University of Texas System
Program Coordinator
Monae Thomas is the Program Coordinator for the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium. Prior to joining the UT System, Monae was the Development Coordinator for a local school district’s education foundation that provides support to 45 campuses by enhancing the educational experience. She has 6 years of experience providing Applied Behavior Analysis therapy to children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other developmental disabilities in schools, centers, and homes across Texas, Georgia, and Alabama. Monae has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and an Associate in Science with honors from Southern Union State Community College.
Anissa Adams, University of Texas System
Communications & Graphic Design Intern
Anissa Adams is a Texas State University student in the Digital Media Innovation department.
Prisha Patel, University of Texas System
Project Coordinator Intern
Prisha Patel is a sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin studying Public Health.
Vision
All Texas children and adolescents will have the best mental health outcomes possible.
Mission
Advance mental health care quality and access for all Texas children and adolescents through inter-institutional collaboration, leveraging the expertise of the state’s health-related institutions of higher education, local and state government agencies, and local and state mental health organizations.
Initiatives:
- The Child Psychiatry Access Network (CPAN) provides telehealth-based consultation and training to primary care providers.
- The Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) program provides in-school behavioral telehealth care to at-risk children and adolescents.
- The research initiative has created two state-wide networks to study and improve the delivery of child and adolescent mental health services in Texas.
- The Community Psychiatry Workforce Expansion (CPWE) funds full-time academic psychiatrists as academic medical directors and new psychiatric resident rotation positions at facilities operated by community mental health providers.
- The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) Fellowships program expands both the number of child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship positions in Texas and the number of these training programs at Texas HRIs.
Structure
The TCMHCC is composed of the following entities:
- The 13 state-funded health related institutions of higher education in Texas
- The Health and Human Services Commission
- The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), which will receive the funding from the state and send it to the Consortium members.
- Three nonprofit organizations that focus on mental health care: Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, and the Texas Council of Community Health Centers
- A Hospital System representative
- The University of Texas System, which is the administrative support entity
- Any other entity that the executive committee considers necessary
Contact
For more information on the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (TCMHCC), contact Luanne Southern at lsouthern@utsystem.edu.
For media inquiries, contact the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium at tcmhcc@utsystem.edu.