Primary Department: Public Health Services
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Leah Barton - Executive Director
Secondary Department: N/A
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Grant - Award
Project ID (if applicable): FY26_CORE
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts - Texas Opioid Abatement Fund Council
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): 5%
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Rate is not 0% and is listed above.
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request by Public Health Services for approval to accept from the Texas Opioid Abatement Fund Council grant funds in the amount of $250,000, with no required match, for the Community-Based Opioid Recovery Efforts (CORE) Program.
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Background and Discussion:
This initiative, led by Harris County Public Health's (HCPH) Substance Use Program in collaboration with ACCESS Harris, aims to strengthen reentry support for individuals exiting the Harris County Jail. While ACCESS Harris currently provides early intervention and post-release case management, the reentry cohort lacks comprehensive behavioral health treatment services and access to Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), which are critical for successful community reintegration. The proposed Behavioral Health Reentry Initiative will address these gaps by leveraging HCPH's peer recovery specialists and case management staff to provide in-person screenings for opioid use disorder (OUD), while grant funding will cover behavioral health treatment and MAT services. HCPH will coordinate with established partners-including Avenue 360, Santa Maria Hostel, UT Physicians Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic, Cenikor, Harris Center, and Harris Health...
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