DATE:             July 28, 1997

TO:                  Consumer, Mental Health Services

FROM:           Don Gilbert, Commissioner

SUBJECT:    Texas MHMR Mental Health Consumer Survey

TXMHMR and your local Mental Health Authority want to be sure you get the services you need and want.  One way that we can find out if this is happening is to ask you.

The attached survey was developed to get your opinions about the services you have received.  This survey has been endorsed by Texas Mental Health Consumers (TMHC), Texas Alliance for the Mentally Ill (TEXAMI), Advocacy Inc., and the Mental Health Association of Texas (MHAT).  Their endorsement letter is included.

Please complete the survey by circling your responses.  Please return it by August 30, 1997 to the State TXMHMR office in the postage paid envelope provided.  The survey is confidential and no one at your center will be allowed to see your responses.  If you have any questions about the survey, please call 1-800-252-8154.

July 28, 1997

Dear Customer:

The Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (TDMHMR) is asking you to fill out and return this survey.  The survey was created with the help of consumers, families, and advocates.

The survey will find out how you, the customer, feel about the services and providers of the services.  It also asks whether you feel the services you have received are helping you.

As advocacy organizations we want to ensure you receive services that recognize and uphold values that are important to customers.  We have made our best effort at capturing those values in this survey instrument.

You may notice on your survey that it is labeled with an identifying number.  TDMHMR is doing a random sample of customers around the state from each Community MHMR Center to complete the survey.  The identifying information on the survey serves only to assist with distributing the survey to the selected group of customers.  All information from the surveys will be lumped together so nobody will know how you responded to the survey.  That information will be confidential.

We are asking that you take the time and energy to fill out and return the survey.  Doing so will help to improve the quality of services in areas that are lacking as well as ensure the ongoing quality of services and practices that have been recognized by you as helpful.

Thank you in advance for your help in our efforts to improve the quality of services provided by TDMHMR.