The Austin metro spans different public mental-health service areas. Texas HHS lists Integral Care for Travis County, Bluebonnet Trails for Williamson and Bastrop, and Hill Country for Hays. Use your home county or ZIP code in the state directory before contacting a local authority. Texas HHS: local mental and behavioral health authorities.
Use residence for the public-service lookup
An Austin mailing label or a workplace in the city may not answer which authority serves your residence. The state directory provides a county and ZIP search. Start there, then ask the identified authority what assessment or referral process applies. The directory establishes service-area information, not a guarantee of personal eligibility.
Explain the kind of help you are seeking
When calling, say whether you want information about mental-health assessment, substance-use resources or coordination involving several needs. Ask who handles that request and whether another organization needs to be involved. You can ask for the process without already knowing a clinical diagnosis or deciding which treatment setting is appropriate.
A county boundary is not the whole care search
A local authority’s service area identifies the public contact to start with. It does not, by itself, establish a private program’s insurance network or intake rules. If the authority refers you elsewhere, ask the receiving organization to confirm the appointment and financial arrangements. Keep the referral and admission steps separate.
Make a useful record when a referral crosses counties
Write down the referring contact, the receiving organization and which part of the request is being transferred. Confirm whether you need to make the next call yourself. This is particularly useful when an Austin-area search returns programs outside your county. The table is a compact extract of selected service areas, not the complete Texas directory.
Use the directory’s labeled contacts
Texas HHS lists Integral Care’s intake number as 512-472-4357 and Hill Country’s intake number as 830-387-5970. For Bluebonnet Trails it lists main contacts 844-309-6385 or 512-255-1720. These labels matter: a main office contact is not necessarily the final intake team. Use the current state directory and explain your county and request when calling. Do not assume the directory’s mailing address is the correct assessment destination. Texas HHS: local mental and behavioral health authorities.
If the receiving service cannot proceed
Return a specific account to the referring contact: the receiving organization, when you contacted it and whether the obstacle concerned service scope, eligibility, documents or scheduling. Ask whether the original referral needs correction or another route is appropriate. Do not infer from a failed contact that your county authority has changed. Keep clinical recommendations and payment questions assigned to the people who can answer them.
Your planning record
Use this editorial worksheet to keep confirmed details separate from questions still awaiting an answer.
| Detail to resolve | What to record | Who can confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Travis | Integral Care | Texas HHS directory and authority |
| Williamson or Bastrop | Bluebonnet Trails Community Services | Texas HHS directory and authority |
| Hays | Hill Country MHDD Centers | Texas HHS directory and authority |
For the wider local picture, return to our Austin care guide. For the shared preparation steps, read preparing for a first conversation about care.
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Sources and scope
These guides bring together published resources and original editorial planning examples. Hypothetical calculations are labeled and their assumptions are shown. Public listings do not establish current openings, individual eligibility, insurance payment or clinical outcomes.
No named clinician has reviewed this guide. It covers general service navigation and logistics; it does not recommend an individual treatment setting. Source checks are editorial checks, not clinical review.
- Texas HHS: local mental and behavioral health authorities · Public-agency guidance · Checked .
The worksheets organize questions; they are not validated assessment tools. Read our source and correction standards.