City of Austin Council Message Board

Colleagues,

The Public Health Committee is proud to recommend Item 56 to the full city council for adoption. The committee recommendation aims to provide guidance to the City Manager as he and City staff undertake the Social Service Contract reset and restructuring process. The guidance includes:

-Direction to the City Manager to create a comprehensive rubric to prioritize the City’s current social service contracts, utilizing the Austin Travis County Community Health Assessment to inform and guide investments.
-Direction to explore sustainable funding sources, partnerships, city-wide cost saving, and other opportunities to prioritize ongoing investments in social service contracts.
-Direction to the City Manager to conduct regular feedback and community engagement sessions with community stakeholders to identify community priorities and finalize both the comprehensive rubric and social service contract restructuring plan.

After receiving thoughtful community feedback at the February 4th Public Health Committee meeting, I would like to put forward a motion sheet that makes the following additions:

-In formalizing the comprehensive rubric, include an evaluation of the social service providers’ reach to all parts within Austin city limits, not limited to counties and school districts.
-Ensures the City Manager identifies an applicable department to fund a service should the gap in service cause irreparable harm to public safety.
-Ensure annual community engagement efforts are promoted, accessible, and reflect changes in community needs and priorities in future budget cycles.
-And finally, as part of the update to City Council on June 1st, include any expected impacts for contracts or issue areas that are not recommended for continued funding.

http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 101253.pdf

Thank you for your consideration.

In community,
Vanessa

Council Member and Chair Fuentes,

Thank you for bringing this item forward and welcoming my participation at the last Public Health Committee. Our social service providers play a critical role in keeping our communities afloat, especially our most vulnerable. One of my biggest priorities is to make sure these services reach my district, where many different jurisdictions overlap, causing unintended barriers and challenges for both providers and those seeking services to navigate. I am pleased to see language incorporated that will encourage cross-jurisdictional collaboration and create a social service provider network that reaches every corner of our city.

Thank you,
Krista