Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute for Texas
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Independent and nonpartisan, the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute works at the intersection of policy and programs to create equitable systemic changes so all people in Texas, the nation, and the world can obtain the health care they need.
- Income
- $40.1 million
- Spending
- $36.5 million
- Spent on programs
- 79%
- Reserves
- -1.3 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 64%
- Employees
- 164
- Volunteers
- 35
- Highest pay
- $819,878, president & ceo
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 56 out of 100. Higher than 33% of charities in its peer group (mental health, $10m to $100m).
Reserves
0 of 35Spendable reserves are negative: it owes or has committed more than it holds.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 25% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 9% of income.
Income trend
10 of 15Income fell 3% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1579% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 6 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 90 out of 100. Higher than 17% of charities in its peer group (mental health, $10m to $100m).
Independent board
25 of 2525 of 25 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
0 of 10Did not give the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (7)
- $8.0 million spent. Health Systems Transformation: The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute is transforming the U.S. health care system so people can easily find mental health care where it is most convenient: in primary care offices. To do this, the Meadows Institute integrates high-quality mental health care into family practices, pediatricians offices, and other primary care settings. In 2024, the Meadows Institute continued to advance integrated behavioral health care, including the gold standard known as the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM), across communities nationwide. To free every Texan from untreated depression and suicide, the Meadows Institute further increased the impact of its Lone Star Depression Challenge (LSDC). As a result of this initiative, which has been adopted by 23 health systems across Texas collectively serving 7.1 million people, more than 550,000 individuals received treatment for depression and more than 120,000 people got better. The Meadows Institute also partnered with Northwestern Medicine and West Health to accelerate the adoption of collaborative care across more than 70 clinics serving more than 350,000 people. The Meadows Institute also laid ground in New York, Michigan, Colorado, and Florida to help millions more people access high-quality mental health care at their regular doctors office. At the same time, the Meadows Institute advanced programs in communities across the state to make high-quality specialty care more accessible for people with complex mental health needs, including increased access to coordinated specialty care, improving services for individuals experiencing homelessness, advancing trauma-informed hospital redesign, and conducting regional assessments of communities strengths, gaps and opportunities to provide actionable recommendations that guide local stakeholders in expanding access to care.
- $6.2 million spent. Children, Youth & Families: The Meadows Institute focuses on expanding mental health support for children and youth, recognizing that mental illnesses are pediatric illnesses and that early intervention can significantly improve outcomes. The Meadows Institute collaborates with schools, child welfare specialists, and juvenile justice systems to ensure that children with intensive needs receive specialized care. As of December 2024, the Meadows Institute supported 81 Texas school districts serving 1.2 million students (more than one-fifth of all Texas K-12 students) by helping schools recognize mental health needs early and connect students to timely, appropriate care so they can learn and thrive. In 2024, the Meadows Institute also championed three evidence-based mental health solutions that will reach the entire state within a decade: same-day urgent mental health services during the school day via Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT), Youth Crisis Outreach Teams (YCOT) in 40 counties that connect children and families to help before needs reach a breaking point, and Multisystemic Therapy (MST), which reduces future incidents of youth violence by 75% over 20 years. These programs have a single goal: to provide young people and their families with the care and connection they need to grow up healthy and strong.
- $5.7 million spent. The Hackett Center for Mental Health:serving Harris County and the Greater Gulf Coast area of Texas, THE HACKETT CENTER FOR MENTAL HEALTH puts policy into practice by identifying solutions to pressing behavioral health challenges for families and their children and supporting the implementation of best practices among systems, organizations, and policymakers. Through reports like Knowledge for Impact: Documenting Lived Experience of Behavioral Health in Harris County, it sheds light on critical barriers to care, equipping policymakers and community leaders with insights to drive meaningful change. The Hackett Centers commitment to womens behavioral health was demonstrated through its Maternal Mental Health Roundtables and the "With Women in Mind" webinar series, fostering essential conversations and partnerships that will shape future behavioral health initiatives. Additionally, through Brain Builders, it expanded its efforts to support early relational health, equipping caregivers with the tools to nurture strong, healthy brain development in young children laying the foundation for lifelong mental well-being. The Trauma and Grief (TAG) Center located at The Hackett Center for Mental Health, works to raise the standard of care and increase access to best-practice care among children and adolescents who have experienced trauma and/or loss through the development of novel treatments and ensuring that those treatments work for different populations of youth in the Greater Houston area, across Texas, and throughout the United States. In 2024, the TAG Center expanded its efforts for youth exposed to trauma and bereavement, training 639 clinicians that served more than 800 youth.
- $2.8 million spent. Health & Public Safety: The Meadows Institute advances reforms to ensure that from the moment a person reaches out for help until the moment they arrive at a safe place for treatment, they receive the right level of care from a trained professional. This approach keeps people experiencing behavioral health emergencies from making unnecessary trips to emergency departments or being arrested, while supporting the mental health of the courageous law enforcement officers who protect and serve our communities. In its third year of operation, the Texas Law Enforcement Peer Network (TLEPN), a partnership between the Meadows Institute and the Caruth Police Institute, connected police officers in all 254 Texas counties with mental health services and resources. Additionally, the Texas Blue Chip Program, which provides essential no-cost clinical resources to promote officer well-being, expanded statewide. As of December 2024, more than 1,500 blue chips across Texas had been distributed to police officers seeking care.
- $2.6 million spent. Policy: The Meadows Institutes policy team educates and builds relationships with lawmakers in the Texas Legislature and Washington, D.C., to ensure that mental health remains a bipartisan priority. In 2024, the Meadows Institute helped advance commonsense solutions to strengthen behavioral health care statewide and nationally. The Meadows Institute helped local communities access the record $11.68 billion the 88th Texas Legislature dedicated to behavioral health care, while preparing for the 89th Legislative Session in 2025. In addition, Congress passed 100% of the Meadows Institutes federal behavioral health funding priorities for FY25, investing $8.1 billion, including $57 million for behavioral health integration efforts.
- $2.0 million spent. Data: The Meadows Institutes research and data analytics team accelerates progress using cutting-edge methodologies and projections to answer questions that are essential to move mental health policies forward, while supporting the Meadows Institutes program evaluations and needs assessments with high-quality data analytics.
- $1.4 million spent. OTHER PROGRAMS
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since July 2014.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.