Primary Department: Housing and Community Development
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Thao Costis
Secondary Department: N/A
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: N/A
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Contract - Award
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
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): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request that the County Judge execute an agreement with Houston Eviction Advocacy Center for a sum not to exceed $1,500,000 in FLEX and General Funds for the purpose of representing indigent defendants facing imminent eviction proceedings within Harris County.
end
Background and Discussion:
In September 2025, Commissioners Court approved Housing & Community Development to enter into an agreement with the Houston Eviction Advocacy Center (“HEAC”) to begin a pilot for increasing indigent defense representation for residents facing imminent eviction proceedings for the duration of FY26 using FLEX funds. This effort followed significant investments Harris County made in rental assistance and legal aid efforts using COVID-recovery-related resources.
Since then, HEAC has already exceeded their initial target of serving 1,000 households, now completing 167% of its caseload goal early. Their performance shows strong demand, high efficiency, and significant return on public investment. For the coming FY26, HCD requests an increase in the contract renewal, from $1M to $1.5M annually.
These commitments bridge the FLEX allocation (approved by Court in 2025, currently targeted to end in 2027) with the new $1M FY27 General Fund CLS/S commitment. HCD’s rental assistance program funded by the same aforementioned FLEX allocation will similarly end in later 2027.
In partnership with providers HEAC and Lone Star Legal Aid (“LSLA”) in FY27, HCD is building on significant eviction prevention efforts and advancing tenant protections in pursuit of Strategic Plan Goal 6, related to advancing housing stability, and Initiative V1, focused on centralizing and expanding eviction legal aid and rental assistance. Commissioners Court’s approval would support HCD in increasing legal access across more Justice of the Peace Courts, reaching more tenants at risk, allowing providers to get closer to universal representation across all 16 courts. These interventions support HCD’s aim to deliver the strongest housing stability outcomes relative to program cost and to structure a long-term, countywide eviction-prevention model.
Regarding agreement structure, Harris County Commissioners Court finds that legal services are professional services and are therefore exempt from competitive procurement pursuant to §262.024 of the Texas Local Government Code; and that defense of indigent defendants facing imminent eviction, as anticipated in this agreement, serves a public purpose pursuant to §81.027 of the Texas Local Government Code.
Expected Impact:
$1M will come from already-existing, allocated FLEX funds and $0.5M will come from General Funds committed in the FY27 CLS/S process.
Alternative Options: Without approval, HCD will not be able to encumber pre-allocated or committed funds approved for housing stability and eviction prevention programs.
County Strategic Plan Goal: 6. Help residents achieve housing stability.
County Strategic Plan Objective: V: Reduce eviction and foreclosure rates among residents.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): Choose an item.
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): Choose an item.
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): Choose an item.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): Choose an item.
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): Choose an item.
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): V1: Enhance and centralize eviction legal aid and financial assistance programs.
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
9/18/2025 |
239 |
Approval of the FY26 HEAC Professional Services Agreement |
Location:
Address (if applicable): N/A
Precinct(s): Countywide
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
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Service Name |
Community Resiliency |
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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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|
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1040 - FLEX Fund |
$ |
$1,000,000 |
$1,000,000 |
$ |
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1000 - General Fund |
$ |
$500,000 |
$500,000 |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Existing Budget |
$ |
$1,500,000 |
$1,500,000 |
$ |
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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 |
$ |
$1,500,000 |
$1,500,000 |
$ |
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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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Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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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: 9/17/2026
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): 10/1/2026
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Amanda Rocha, Director, Policy & Partnerships, Housing & Community Development
Attachments (if applicable): Agreement; Court Order