Laura Slocum

Laura Slocum has 19 years of experience in behavioral healthcare, with a focus on program development and administration at the intersection of behavioral health and justice systems for the last 11 years. Laura believes that working in the field of justice and health yields responsibilities and opportunities to advance social justice and that matters of inequities in these systems must always be the explicit lens through which policies and programming are conceived, created, and evaluated.

Laura has worked in a variety of service provider roles, including as a sexual assault survivor liaison, a case manager at an outpatient substance use facility, a therapist at a residential substance use facility, and as a crisis clinician and clinical lead at a psychiatric urgent care facility. She has developed and provided behavioral health training for first responders for over 10 years.

Laura collaborated closely with law enforcement departments, emergency medical services, jails, and court systems to provide consultation and assistance in developing and/or editing their standard operating procedures, clinical operating guidelines, and policies to advance and standardize access to behavioral healthcare. She also served on the Capitol Area Council of Government (CAPCOG) Criminal Justice Advisory Committee for five years, including in the role of Vice Chair in 2021 and Chair in 2022. Laura served as the Practice Administrator for Crisis Services and Justice Initiatives at Integral Care for the last five years and oversaw the agency’s Disaster Response and First Responder Behavioral Health Training.

At the Meadows Institute, Laura plays a critical role in assisting Yolanda Lewis, Executive Vice President for Justice and Health, working collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders in Texas and nationally. She is heavily involved in developing operational strategy, programmatic infrastructure, and building capacity to ensure success and growth of the Center for Justice for Health.

Laura completed her bachelor’s degree at Loyola University New Orleans and completed her master’s degree at Our Lady of the Lake University San Antonio. She has been a Licensed Professional Counselor since 2006. Laura has presented her work at numerous professional conferences including the Texas Judicial Summit of Mental Health Conference, American Association of Suicidology National Conference, Journal of Emergency Medical Services National Conference, and the National Association of EMS Physicians National Conference. Laura is the recipient of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Austin John and Kitty Holman Award (2015) and the Senator Kirk P. Watson Public Service Award (2018). She lives in Austin with her husband and two sons.