When the 83rd Legislative Session is called to order on Jan. 8, 2013, Toni Rose will take her seat as one of 43 freshmen elected to the Texas House of Representatives. She will go from serving clients as part of Parkland Health & Hospital System’s behavioral health team in the Dallas County Jail to serving her constituents in District 110.
As a long-time resident of District 110, Representative-elect Rose has advocated for a stronger educational system, affordable health care and better jobs for her community. As a trained mental health professional, she is particularly concerned about the disparities in access to mental health services in her community and throughout Texas.
“Working as a mental health liaison in the jail has provided me with an opportunity to see things from a different perspective,” Representative-elect Rose said. “I know what it’s like trying to find community resources when a lot of the funding has been cut. Because of my job at Parkland, I’ll be able to bring a different voice to the table.”
More than 100,000 people are booked into the Dallas County Jail each year making it the seventh largest jail in the U.S. Of the 6,100 inmates who are in the jail on a daily basis, more than 1,400 need psychiatric care. The average length of stay for inmates in the Dallas County Jail is 29 days; 46 percent are released within 72 hours. Eighty-four percent are male, 16 percent are female and 22 to 33 percent of the jail population has mental health conditions.
Representative-elect Rose has spent her entire life in public service. She spent a number of years working in Child Protective Services and the last 11 in the behavioral health sector of the jail – first with the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston and then with Parkland when it took over health care services in 2006.
“I believe I can represent the people of District 110 because of my past and current involvement in the community. I am aware of the needs of the district,” she said, noting that she is looking forward to being a voice for those who do not have a seat at the table.
Representative-elect Rose’s last day at Parkland was Monday, Dec. 31.
