Despite a long waitlist, the number of children served in the YES Waiver program has declined because of provider shortages.
Quin Heston and his mother Nidia Chairez Heston, who were recipients of the YES Waiver, stand outside their home in Austin on Jan. 27, 2025.Nidia Heston always had a plan for her son Quin but nothing could have prepared her when her son’s school wouldn’t enroll him in the eighth grade until his mental health was thoroughly evaluated.
Quin Heston's mother, Nidia Chairez Heston, shares her experience with the Youth Empowerment Services Waiver program in their Austin home in January.Started in 2015, the program provides a family with a team of specialists within the community who provide various behavioral health services and nontraditional services, such as adaptive support, specialized therapies, and minor home modifications.
“HHSC continues to work … to expand the provider base and maximize utilization of existing YES Waiver slots as a statewide service,” said Jennifer Ruffcorn, Texas Health and Human Services Commission spokesperson.Monica Reyes, a certified family partner and mental health peer specialist in Travis County, has helped more than 100 families get approved for the YES program. She said the program's effectiveness is undisputed, with the state saving an estimated $12,500 per child served.
Reyes said the YES program in Travis County has about two providers for nontraditional therapy services like art and music and eight providers for classic therapy services. The YES waitlist is at least six months. In 2023, 108 Texas children entered foster care due to unavailable mental health or intellectual or developmental disability services, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Additionally, 461 children were placed in foster care due to “refusal to accept parental responsibility,” which are often linked to a child’s mental health or behavioral challenges.
That all changed once he started getting intensive treatment from the YES program. Through art therapy, he could express the emotions he had felt for years to his parents. He also learned to manage his emotions through a new therapist, and his team set him on a routine schedule for treatment and appointments. Almost a year later, when he moved to a different program that would cover his services for life, he felt like a new person.
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