Austin mental health team speeds crisis response downtown

December 1, 2025 – The Meadows Institute was featured in a story in the Austin American-Statesman regarding the launch of FIRST, or “Field Integrated Response Support Team,” a pilot program in Austin that is modeled after our work developing Multi-Disciplinary Response Teams, whose goals are to provide a more humane response to a person experiencing a mental health crisis and to avoid arrests or unnecessary trips to the ER. RIGHT Care, which the Meadows Institute helped launch in Dallas in 2018, was the first MDRT team of its kind in the state to transform the approach to responding to mental health emergencies, 

Senior Vice President for Health & Public Safety, B.J. Wagner, is quoted in the story, and she provides context for how these programs have improved responses in cities such as Galveston, Abilene, and Wichita Falls.

“Everybody can reduce response times, jail bookings and hospital admissions,” Wagner said. “But reducing use-of-force instances, repeat 911 calls, and improving the quality of life of people being treated and for the people providing care is also important.”

Read the full story here: https://www.statesman.com/news/local/article/austin-first-mental-health-team-21143408.php