Help When It’s Needed Most: How Pecan Valley Centers’ Crisis Services Connect People to Care
- Callie Wren
- Aug 14
- 2 min read
When someone experiences a mental health crisis, hospitalization isn't always the answer.
In 2025, Pecan Valley Centers completed nearly 2,000 crisis assessments. Of those, 770 individuals needed hospitalization while 1,230 people were safely stabilized and supported in their communities.
That's more than 1,000 lives that avoided unnecessary emergency room visits and jail involvement while accessing care close to home.
A portion of these crisis assessments stem from individuals calling the Pecan Valley Centers’ Mental Health Crisis Hotline (1-800-772-5987). When someone is experiencing a mental health crisis and calls the hotline, a Mobile Crisis Outreach Team (MCOT) member is ready to respond, anytime, anywhere within Pecan Valley Centers’ six-county catchment area.
MCOT Case Managers provide crisis support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in locations such as homes, emergency rooms, schools, jails, and other community settings. They work alongside law enforcement, hospitals, families, and community partners to help people through some of their most difficult moments.
When responding to someone in crisis, the first consideration is immediate safety for the individual and the community. Whenever possible, the goal is to avoid hospitalization and provide local support so individuals can stay connected to families, jobs, and schools.
But sometimes, ensuring safety means making a collaborative decision with local law enforcement and local judges.
An MCOT case manager recalled working with an individual in the emergency room after a serious overdose. The situation was critical, and hospitalization was necessary, even though the person did not want to go.
Six months later, the case manager and individual unexpectedly crossed paths.
This time, the individual was actively engaged in services at Pecan Valley Centers, doing well, and had turned life in a new direction. The individual shared gratitude for the care that was provided during one of their darkest moments, describing that intervention as a major turning point.
“Stories like this remind us why crisis services matter,” said Walker Rainwater, Director of Forensic & Crisis Services at Pecan Valley Centers. “MCOT serves as a safety net for the community, helping people get the care they need when they need it most, often for the first time.”
Rainwater emphasized that you don’t have to be in crisis to call the hotline—anyone can reach out if they need mental health support. Further, anyone can call if they are concerned about an individual. Crisis staff are frequently contacted by family members, neighbors, friends, clergy, schools, and many others.
No matter where you are in the Pecan Valley Centers’ service area, help is just a phone call away.
*The Mental Health Crisis Hotline also serves as an intake line for Pecan Valley Centers mental health services. You can call the hotline to explore service eligibility and get connected with care.
Pecan Valley Centers is the Local Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) Authority for six Texas counties: Hood, Johnson, Erath, Somervell, Parker and Palo Pinto. The organization is a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic and provides mental health and IDD community support services to individuals regardless of health insurance status or ability to pay.
