Texas Human and Health Services (HHS) – Overview
The Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) Commission is an agency under the Texas Health and Human Services system. Texas began transforming its delivery of human and health services in September 2016 with the aim of making the HHS system more efficient.
With the new system in place, the HHS has accomplished the following:
- Making it easier for people to find out about services or benefits for which they are eligible.
- Improved integration of programs by removing bureaucratic bottlenecks and combining similar programs and services.
- Creating clearly-defined accountability within the HHS organization.
- Including well-defined and objective performance metrics for all organizational ideas.
Today, the Texas HHS consists of two agencies – The Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), which are headquartered in Austin, TX.
Texas HHS Benefits and Services

Texas Human and Health Services – Benefits and Services
The Texas Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provides the following benefits and services to eligible individual residents of the state:
- Long-term care for people seniors and disabled residents
- Medicaid for low-income families and special needs children
- SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) food benefits for children and families
- TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) is cash assistance for families
- Behavioral health care services
- Services that help and sustain seniors and the disabled in their homes or communities
- Services for women and people with special care needs
Besides these services and benefits, the Texas DHHS also performs the following regulatory functions:
- Licensing child care providers
- Licensing and credentialing long-term facilities (assisted living, nursing homes, etc.)
- Managing the daily operations of state-sponsored hospitals and living centers
Texas DHHS Grants
The Texas Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) also manages grant opportunities for HHSC, DSHS, and DFPS.
The department is a source of grants for projects and ideas that provide public services and stimulate the economy. Grants are crucial to support critical recovery programs, innovative research, and similar programs.
The Texas DHHS offers grants for:
- Behavioral Health Services
- Health, Developmental, and Independence Services
- Access and Eligibility Services, etc.
Here is a list of Texas DHHS grants that are offered for different purposes:
1 – Abstinence Education Program
The Title V State Abstinence Education Grant Program offers sexual risk avoidance education material and programs that focus on teaching positive youth development methods. This is an effort to prevent adolescent pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and AIDS/HIV using contracts with community-centric non-profit organizations.
Direct services contractors offer 5th to 12th-grade students easy access to education classes and over 20 hours of service learning opportunities. In addition, the program curriculum aims to empower youth to choose to delay having sex.
2 – Autism Program
The Autism Program aims to excellence in delivering services meant for families with children who have autism.
The DHHS offers these grants through contracts with local community agencies and organizations. These organizations use applied behavior analysis and other positive behavior support strategies. This program aims to better the quality of life of children on the autism spectrum and their supportive families.
3 – Behavioral Health Services
Here are some of the major Texas DHHS grants for behavioral health services research and development efforts by non-profit and educational organizations in Texas:
- Grants from the Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program reimburse state mental health authorities and tribal with 100% coverage of research-related expenses.
- HB 13 – Community Mental Health Grant Program support programs that provide treatment and services to those who suffer from mental illness and unmet behavioral health needs.
- SB 292 – In order to decrease recidivism and the overall wait time for patients with mental illness in a state hospital, the Mental Health Grant Program for Justice-Involved Individuals offers matching grants for county-based community collaboration.
- Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drugs grant aims to raise awareness about the harm of sharing prescription medications. It also aims to collaborate with medical and pharmaceutical communities on the risks of over-prescribing medications to young adults.
- Texas Veterans + Family Alliance Grant Program is aimed at funding local community efforts to improve the quality of life of Texas-based veterans and their families. This is achieved by expanding availability and increasing access to enhanced delivery of mental health treatment and other supportive health care services.
If you want to seek information and details of additional grants and services offered by the Texas DHHS, we recommend you to visit the official website at https://comptroller.texas.gov/purchasing/grant-management/.
Conclusion
The Texas Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) works to improve standards of services and ease the delivery of said services to the needful. The DHHS also funds community-based health and safety efforts by non-profit and government entities.
The DHHS is the source of assistance to tens of thousands of Texan families, including seniors, special-care individuals, and the disabled. Find out more about the Texas DHHS programs, services, and grants through the official website at https://www.hhs.texas.gov/.
See Also
Can Undocumented Immigrants Get Medicaid
Signs That You Will Be Approved for Disability
I am a dedicated healthcare researcher and an enthusiast specializing in medical grants, medical education and research. Through my articles, I aim to empower healthcare professionals and researchers with valuable insights and resources to navigate these critical aspects effectively.
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