The Harris Center For Mental Health & IDD

The Harris Center For Mental Health & IDD, a local government-owned entity based in Houston, Texas, delivers mental health, substance abuse treatment, and residential sober living services to federal agencies as a prime contractor on Department of Veterans Affairs delivery orders and indefinite delivery contracts, and as a sub-recipient on federal grants flowing through the Health and Human Services Commission of Texas and other state pass-through entities. The organization competes full-and-open, with no set-aside designations on its federal contract awards.

The Harris Center operates primarily as a behavioral health and developmental disability service provider grounded in three capability areas: transition sober living residential services for veterans recovering from substance use disorders; comprehensive community behavioral health center (CCBHC) expansion and outreach serving underserved populations in Harris County; and early psychosis intervention and prevention, plus suicide risk assessment and zero-suicide framework implementation. On the contract side, the organization holds a single-award indefinite delivery contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Integrated Service Network 17 (VISN 17) valued at $4.6 million through February 28, 2031, awarded March 1, 2026, for sober living residential services in Houston. Three delivery orders have flowed from this IDIQ: $854.1 thousand for the first ordering period (March 1, 2026, through February 28, 2027), $421.2 thousand for an extension option awarded August 28, 2025, and $3.2 thousand for a fifth ordering period (August 28, 2024, through August 27, 2025). A prior delivery order for the same services valued at $638.4 thousand ran from August 28, 2021, through August 27, 2022, under an earlier VA IDC.

On the federal grant side, the Harris Center acts as prime recipient on three SAMHSA Center for Mental Health Services project grants: the CCBHC-IA transformation project (awarded September 30, 2023, extending through September 29, 2027) to expand outreach, screening, assessment, and treatment for underserved populations with serious emotional disturbance, serious mental illness, and substance use disorder; the L.I.F.E. (Living Is For Everyone) zero-suicide program (awarded September 30, 2023, extending through September 29, 2028) targeting suicide prevention and intervention in Harris County, including collaboration with the Harris County Sheriff's Office; and the Clinical High Risk Psychosis Program (awarded September 30, 2022, completing September 29, 2026) implementing stepped-care assessment and treatment for individuals under age 25 showing prodromal symptoms. The Harris Center also acts as sub-recipient on multiple federal grants passed through the Texas Health and Human Services Commission covering substance abuse intervention and treatment, early childhood intervention services, local mental health authority performance agreements, and community psychiatric residency support. Recent sub-awards include a $948.8 thousand HOME-ARP (HOME Investment Partnerships Program—American Rescue Plan) sub-award from Harris County (March 24, 2026) for intensive clinical outreach, crisis intervention, and care coordination serving approximately 250 individuals annually, and an Early Psychosis Intervention Network in Texas (EPINET-TX) sub-award through the University of Texas at Austin (March 18, 2025).

Customer concentration centers on health and social-services grantor agencies. The Department of Veterans Affairs' VISN 17 leads the federal contract footprint with six awards valued at $9.6 million combined potential value, representing 100% of the organization's federal contract value. Federal grant customers include the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (13 awards across three prime grants), the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development (9 awards), and multiple sub-awards through the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (29 named sub-awards since 2023). Awards per year have grown unevenly — one award in 2022, fifteen in 2023, two in 2024, eighteen in 2025, and six in 2026 year-to-date — reflecting heavy grant sub-award activity channeled through state intermediaries. Three awards totaling $854 thousand reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating modest recompete exposure on the VA side. The organization's federal footprint reflects its principal mission as a regional community mental health and developmental disability authority serving Harris County and the Greater Houston area, with targeted federal partnerships in veteran behavioral health, suicide prevention, early psychosis intervention, and homelessness support.