Texas has the second largest population of veterans in the country, and we are committed to caring for them and the families who have supported their service.
In 2015, the Meadows Institute worked with Sen. Jane Nelson and other lawmakers in the development and passage of Senate Bill 55, which created a new and innovative grant program, Texas Veterans + Family Alliance, within the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). The purpose of this program was to support community mental health programs that provide services and treatment to veterans and their families.
The TV+FA grant program awards state funds to matching funds secured by existing or developing collaboratives dedicated to addressing issues like veteran post-traumatic stress, depression, or suicide.
The bill also directed HHSC to work with an administrator to assist, support, and advise on TV+FA and to help secure local, private, and in-kind funds to match the $20 million initially appropriated by the Texas Legislature. The Meadows Institute was chosen as the no-cost administrator for the program’s first two years.
In subsequent legislative sessions, the TV+FA program has not only been reauthorized with full funding, but also improved by removing the third-party administrator rule and reducing the matching fund requirements for rural regions.
From 2016 through 2018, TV+FA awarded 58 grants to projects securing over $37 million to match $37 million in state funding. Those projects are estimated to have served over 50,300 veterans and their family members. The current grant cycle has awarded 16 grants to projects projected to serve an additional 17,000 veterans and family members. Those grantees have secured $20 million to match $20 in state funding.
The Meadows Institute continues to work with communities, helping them develop and secure TV+FA grants and improve the lives of veterans and their families across our state.
