Primary Department: County Administration
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Erica Lee Carter
Secondary Department: Choose an item.
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Supplemental RCA
Type of Request: Position
Project ID (if applicable):
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable):
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable):
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable):
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable):
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): Choose an item.
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request by the Office of County Administration for approval to transfer two (2) existing grant-funded Language Access positions to the general fund effective July 25, 2026 at no additional cost.
end
Background and Discussion:
In 2024, Commissioners Court approved a two-year, $515,000 award from the Houston Endowment to establish a Language Access Team within the Office of County Administration, with an original grant end date of April 30, 2026. The team was tasked with conducting a comprehensive needs assessment of OCA’s services, programs, and language access practices for Harris County residents, and with developing strategies to address identified gaps to better serve limited English proficient residents.
In December 2025, the Court accepted a no cost amendment extending the grant end date-and the two associated positions-to July 31, 2026.
In February 2026, the Court directed OCA to work with prioritized departments-311 (Universal Services), Harris County Public Health, Harris County Public Library, the Office of County Administration, and the Domestic Relations Office-to assess FY2027 budget needs to implement these plans. OCA will work with remaining departments during the FY2028 budget process to ensure county-wide language access compliance.
Expected Impact:
Approval of this request will allow OCA to maintain the staffing capacity needed to complete and implement countywide Language Access Plans and to support departments in meeting the Court’s directives on language access. Continued staffing will ensure consistent technical guidance, monitoring, and coordination across departments, reducing service gaps for limited English proficient residents.
OCA can fund these two positions internally, for the remainder of FY2026 and ongoing in future budget years, using funds in the OCA baseline budget designated for language access. The cost for the FY2026 following grant expiration at the end of July 2026 is $41,371.02. The annualized cost is $273,671.62.
Alternative Options:
If no action is taken, the two grant funded Language Access Team positions will expire on July 31, 2026, leaving OCA without dedicated staff to coordinate countywide language access planning. Departments would lose centralized guidance, leading to inconsistent practices, slower progress toward Court directives, and uneven service for limited English proficient residents. Independent, uncoordinated approaches also increase compliance risks and may result in duplicative or inefficient spending across departments.
County Strategic Plan Goal: 2. Connect our community with safe, reliable, equitably distributed, and well-maintained infrastructure.
County Strategic Plan Objective: N/A
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): N/A
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): N/A
Health Initiative (Goal 4): N/A
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): N/A
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): N/A
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
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Date |
Agenda Item # |
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02/12/2026 |
3 |
To direct the Office of County Administration to work with all departments to assess current internal language access procedures, resources, departmental service data, and interaction with the public to create and implement departmental Language Access Plans that best serve Harris County’s limited English-proficient population; and to direct the Office of County Administration to work with the following departments and relevant stakeholders, by April 6, to assess budget needs for Fiscal Year 2027 to implement Language Access Plans and provide adequate language access to Harris County residents. These departments shall be prioritized in the first iteration of language access planning due to their high interactions with the public, size of department and service area, and/or connection to the judicial system and these departments include 311 which is Universal Services, Harris County Public Health, Harris County Public Libraries, Office of County Administration, and Domestic Relations Office. As they’re doing this work, they also consider having a proper level of training for all the interpreters, and that they, to the extent possible, make a projection of how much it would cost to service all public facing departments |
|
12/11/2025 |
221 |
Approved request for a no-cost grant extension for the Houston Endowment Language Access Grant, extending the employment of the Language Access Team until July. |
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8/26/2025 |
6 |
Approved request for approval to distribute Language Access funds to participants of the Language Access Community Focus Groups in an amount not to exceed $1,508.25. |
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4/23/2024 |
266 |
Approved request by the Office of County Administration for approval of two positions, effective May 4, 2024, funded by a grant from Houston Endowment, Inc., as project support for a needs assessment and development of a comprehensive language access plan. |
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2/27/2024 |
472 |
Accepted an award from Houston Endowment, Inc., for grant funds to develop a comprehensive countywide LEP plan. |
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10/10/2023 |
193 |
Approved submitting an application to Houston Endowment, Inc., for grant funds in the amount of $515,000, with no required match. |
Location:
Address (if applicable):
Precinct(s): Countywide
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
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Service Name |
Language Access |
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Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
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Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
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Funding Sources |
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Existing Budget |
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1000 - General Fund |
$41,371.02 |
$ |
$41,371.02 |
$273,671.62 |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Existing Budget |
$41,371.02 |
$ |
$41,371.02 |
$273,671.62 |
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Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Funding Sources |
$41,371.02 |
$ |
$41,371.02 |
$273,671.62 |
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Grants - Proposed Budget (For Grants Items only) |
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Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
No. of Grant Years |
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Local Match Source - Existing Budget: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total) |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new Position Control Numbers (PCN)s) |
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Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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Additional Positions Request |
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- |
- |
- |
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Total Personnel |
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- |
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- |
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County Attorney’s Office Legal Review (for Harris County Code Items only) |
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CAO Reviewer Name and Title |
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CAO Review Completion Date |
Click or tap to enter a date. |
Anticipated Court Date: 6/11/2026
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): Click or tap to enter a date.
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or ARPA related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Erica Lee Carter, County Administrator, Office of County Administration; Tonya Mills, Managing Director, Office of County Administration; Karen Evans, Manager of Justice Innovation, Office of County Administration.
Attachments (if applicable): 3441(s)