Governor awards grant to expand forensic psychiatry training
UTHealth Houston is among nine academic medical institutions statewide receiving new funding from Gov. Greg Abbott as part of a $5 million initiative to expand forensic psychiatry training and strengthen Texas’ mental health workforce.
The grant program will provide approximately $555,000 to each participating institution, including UTHealth Houston, to support or expand accredited one-year forensic psychiatry fellowships for licensed physicians. Forensic psychiatry applies psychiatric expertise to legal proceedings, including evaluations, treatment, and research focused on safety and risk mitigation.
“We are grateful for the funding that will allow us to train more forensic psychiatrists across Texas, including our new forensic fellowship program at UTHealth Houston and the John S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center,” said Jair C. Soares, MD, PhD, the university’s vice president for Behavioral Sciences and Pat R. Rutherford, Jr. Chair in Psychiatry at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, as well as dean of UT Health Houston School of Behavioral Health Sciences and executive director of the John S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center at UTHealth Houston. “This is much needed by our state!”
The funding is expected to bolster existing graduate medical education efforts and expand opportunities for those pursuing subspecialty training in behavioral health within the Forensic Fellowship Program under the medical school’s Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences .
These programs will further train specialists at the intersection of mental health and the legal system, preparing physicians to conduct psychiatric evaluations, provide expert testimony, and deliver care within both civil and criminal justice settings.
Funding psychiatry training expansion
The grants, administered through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, are designed to position Texas as a national leader in forensic psychiatry training.
State leaders say the investment comes at a critical time, as Texas continues working to increase access to mental health services and address workforce shortages.
In announcing the initiative, Abbott emphasized that expanding training pipelines will help develop the next generation of health care leaders while improving care for communities across the state.
UTHealth Houston joins other recipients across Texas, including institutions in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and Galveston, in a coordinated effort to grow the state’s capacity to deliver specialized psychiatric care where it is increasingly needed.
For more information about forensic psychiatry fellowship training and UTHealth Houston’s role in strengthening Texas’ mental health workforce, visit the program’s webpage.