Contact Us

English Español

Texas System of Care

Achieving well-being for children and youth

Spreading the adoption of system of care throughout Texas is a team effort. In addition to the team members listed below, Texas System of Care is grateful for the knowledge, contributions and sheer hard work provided by numerous partner organizations and individuals.

Molly Lopez, PhD

Lead Evaluator
A Research Associate Professor at The University of Texas at Austin and the director of the Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health, Molly provides project management and staff oversight at the University of Texas at Austin. Molly also serves as the lead evaluator on the Texas System of Care initiative and provides leadership for expansion strategies aimed at increasing the use of data to make informed decisions. She is a licensed clinical psychologist with experience in conducting services research and large-scale implementation of innovations in mental health. Formerly a Children’s Mental Health Lead at DSHS, Dr. Lopez provided policy and programmatic oversight to children’s mental health services and guided several initiatives to implement evidence-based and promising practices within the state mental health system. Contact Molly at mlopez@austin.utexas.edu.

Tammy Holland

Senior Administrative Program Coordinator
Tammy T. Holland serves as the Senior Administrative Program Coordinator for Texas System of Care at the Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health. Her work focuses on supporting mental health authorities and schools to shape comprehensive school mental health systems across Texas. She began working with Texas children and families more than thirty years ago as a licensed social worker at the Abilene Regional Victim Crisis Center. Subsequently, she served at the Arizona Baptist Children’s Services, Brownwood ECI Program, Texas Juvenile Justice Department, and Texas Health & Human Services Commission.  Tammy holds a master’s degree from The University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs and a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. She is published in YOU and Your Nonprofit: Practical Advice and Tips from the CharityChannel Professional Community and has been a featured speaker at many national and state conferences specializing in the topic of volunteer administration and community engagement. Tammy enjoys traveling the world with her husband and spending time with her five children and three grandchildren. Contact Tammy at tammy.holland@austin.utexas.edu.

Arnold Amador

Evaluation Specialist

Arnoldo Amador graduated from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2016 with a Master’s in Experimental Psychology. His career and research interests have intertwined over the years in the evaluation of Education (STEM & Bilingual), Cognition, Neuropsychology, and Mental Health. He’s had the opportunity to partner with individuals across the lifespan to study and evaluate different formal and informal assessments.

Natalie Fikac, Ed.D.

School Mental Health Lead

Natalie Fikac (she/her/hers) serves as the School Mental Health Lead at the Texas System of Care. Her educational experience began over 26 years ago as an elementary school teacher, reading interventionist, professional school counselor, campus administrator and district level administrator. Previously she served at the Texas Education Agency as the Project AWARE State Coordinator. Natalie holds a Masters in Education in School Counseling and School Administration from Sam Houston State University and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Lamar University. Her research interests include school mental and behavioral health, systems change, leadership, wellness, resiliency, and self-compassion. Contact Natalie at natalie.fikac@austin.utexas.edu.

Glenn Dembowski

Project Services Coordinator

Glenn specializes in solutions. An alumnus of the University of Texas at Austin, he has worked for UT since 1996. He currently serves as the Project Services Coordinator for the Texas System of Care, operating largely behind the scenes to support the team as they work to ensure that Texas children have access to excellent mental health care. Drawing on his experience in academic, service, and research departments at the University, Glenn facilitates purchasing, travel, event coordination, contracts, web-conferencing, data compilation, and occasionally rescues small animals in distress. He is a writer, musician, and poet; his preferred color is green, and his favorite video game is MS Excel.

Nidia Chairez Heston, LMSW, Certified Family Partner-M

Family Engagement Specialist

Since high school where Nidia Heston (she/her/ella) participated in a vocational childcare program, she has been interested in how children learn and grow and how their families can support them. After ten years of working with children and families in early learning settings, most of her work has been in pediatrics where, no matter what her “official” job duties were, she found herself helping families navigate medical and various child-serving systems. Eventually, she would become a mom to a child who would be diagnosed with non-verbal autism at age three and several mental health diagnoses by age 10yrs and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at age 13yrs old. In 2007, Nidia was hired as a Family Partner for a Local Mental Health Authority where she worked until 2014 and fell in love with the work of peer support. Since then, Nidia has volunteered for National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Central Texas, been part of a non-profit board who supports children with rare/undiagnosed medical conditions, provided community training on advocacy, earned a master’s degree, participated in numerous workgroups and presentations, and coordinated state training and the Certified Family Partner Program. Nidia is so excited to join Texas System of Care to help further the voice of families and youth to continue to inform the development of family and individual serving systems in Texas. Contact Nidia at nidia.heston@hhs.texas.gov.

Tracy Levins, PhD

State Development Specialist

Tracy Levins coordinates with state agencies, local communities and community members to shape the policies that will help sustain and support the system of care framework across Texas. Previously, Tracy managed the prevention and early intervention services for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. With over 25 years of experience in the juvenile justice and mental health systems, Tracy has worked with communities, organizations, policymakers, and professionals throughout Texas to help youth access the services and resources they need to become productive, literate, lawful, and responsible citizens. She was a 2010 nominee for Outstanding Woman in Texas Government for her work in family engagement in juvenile justice and has served as one of a select group of collaborators for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Mental Health and Juvenile Justice Collaborative for Change, a project of the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice at Policy Research Associates. Contact Tracy at t.levins@austin.utexas.edu.

Zatara Lumen

Administrative Coordinator

Zatara Lumen provides administrative coordination support for Texas System of Care. Zatara facilitates grant activities such as travel, event coordination, contracts, data compilation, and Children and Youth Behavioral Health Subcommittee support. Zatara received her Bachelors in Urban and Regional Planning from Florida Atlantic University. While she’s never worked in her field, Zatara has used her skills and experience to be the best administrator she can be. She’s happy to call Austin home and she enjoys exploring the city with its wide variety of art, music, great food, and fun events. Zatara enjoys reading, meeting new people as well as spending time with her dog and her friends.

Grace Cruse

Public Affairs Representative

Grace Cruse (she/they) graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Anthropology from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX. They have experience in social media content creation, photography, and graphic design. Grace is passionate about how communications, social media, and design can be used to raise awareness around mental health and improve systems that influence well-being. While she is not working, you can find her gardening, exploring local coffee shops, and spoiling her cat, Luna. Contact Grace at grace.cruse@austin.utexas.edu.

X