Department: Public Health Services
Department Head/Elected Official: Barbie L. Robinson, MPP, JD, CHC ─ Executive Director
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Financial Authorization
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for discussion and possible action to approve additional funding in the amount of $6,990,989 to fund an additional 20 staff and additional non-personnel support to the current level of service for ACCESS Harris for FY25.
end
Background and Discussion:
On July 20, 2021, the Harris County Commissioners Court unanimously passed a resolution to create the countywide initiative Accessing Coordinated Care and Empowering Self Sufficiency Harris County (ACCESS Harris County) as part of its overall strategic priorities to strengthen service delivery to support the County’s most vulnerable, high needs residents to achieve self-sufficiency, recovery, and well-being. The initiative will achieve this objective by identifying vulnerable county residents who are experiencing a myriad of challenges related to social, economic, health and behavioral health, substance use, unemployment, community/individual violence issues, and criminal justice involvement and will work to provide the help they need.
ACCESS Harris County is an integrated, care-coordination model that works across County safety net departments and community-based organizations to establish multidisciplinary or care coordination teams. These teams are designed to deliver coordinated and integrated services across systems and programs that focus on supporting a client holistically, addressing multiple needs that ensure better outcomes and greater stability.
ACCESS Harris works to provide care coordination, case management, trauma-informed care, addressing social determinants of care, managing teams, and team-based care for our specialized cohorts. This request will support the efforts taken to continue to fulfill these needs and the funding barriers present within the division.
There is an additional consideration. ACCESS Harris County, in partnership with International Business Machines Corporation, developed an enabling technology solution funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) through September 30, 2026. This enabling technology solution has operationalized the work of ACCESS Harris, assembling the sensitive and siloed client records from each participating safety net department into a single-source master client index. Beyond September 2026, the ongoing maintenance of this system will consist of 2 developers at an estimated cost of $320,000 per year.
Expected Impact:
This discussion will provide a breakdown of enrolled participants, services provided, funding sources, and an overview of the case management occurring within ACCESS Harris. This information is expected to clearly delineate the division's needs to continue with current ACCESS cohorts.
Alternative Options:
Alternative options to this proposal include a reduced number of additional staff and non-personnel support at the following levels:
• 15 additional staff and associated non-personnel support - $5,296,773
• 10 additional staff and associated non-personnel support - $4,050,204
Alignment with Goal(s):
X Justice and Safety
X Economic Opportunity
X Housing
X Public Health
X Transportation
_ Flooding
_ Environment
_ Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
N/A |
|
|
Location:
Address (if applicable): N/A
Precinct(s): Countywide
|
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
|
Service Name |
|
|
|
|
Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
Existing Budget |
|
|
|
|
|
1000 - General Fund |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$1,927,979 |
|
|
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Current Budget |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$1,927,979 |
|
Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
|
|
1000 - General Fund |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$6,990,989 |
|
. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$6,990,989 |
|
Total Funding Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$8,918,968 |
|
Personnel(Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
|
|
Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
30 |
|
Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
20 |
|
Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
50 |
Anticipated Court Date: July 15, 2024
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): July 15, 2024
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Dr. Jamie Hughes, ACCESS Harris Director, Public Health Services
Attachments (if applicable): ACCESS Harris County: Year in Review 2023-2024 Presentation