When its contract with an outside provider expires early next year, the Harris County Commissioners Court decided on Tuesday to bring the county health department’s Holistic Assistance Response Teams program in-house.
The action follows investigations into the vendor, Disaster Emergency Medical Assistance Consulting and Management, which started in May after it was alleged that the company was paying the county for the same hours it was working for a Californian county. After conducting its own audit, Harris County found no problems with their billing.
Barbie Robinson, a former Harris County Public Health employee, was a DEMA employee in Sonoma County, California.During the contracting process, Robinson spoke with Michelle Patino, the CEO of the company, according to an August Houston Chronicle investigation. Robinson is currently facing a third-degree felony charge of misusing information in connection with a different program after being sacked by County Administrator Diana Ramirez.
The only Republican on the court, Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey, dissenting from the commissioners’ 3-1 vote to assume program operations.
Fourth Precinct According to Commissioner Lesley Briones, she is fully in favor of bringing HART in-house.
“I’m really grateful that we’ll be preserving and bolstering HART,” she remarked. It’s effective at connecting people with programs, but it also keeps people out of the legal system who don’t need to be there.
Adrian Garcia, Commissioner of Precinct 2, repeated his colleague.
“I’m happy to see a proposal that brings this program in house to ensure its longevity and stability because HART serves an essential purpose in Harris County and our communities,” Garcia said.
In 2022, the county established a Holistic Assistance Response Team to handle 911 calls from citizens dealing with non-emergency mental and behavioral health or homelessness concerns instead of the police. According to the county public health department, the team has handled over 15,000 calls that would have otherwise gone to emergency medical services, fire, or law enforcement. According to the department’s transition strategy, there have also been almost 900 connections to social services that have helped people of the community.
The Office of County Administration and Harris County Public Health were previously instructed by the Commissioners Court to look into two possibilities regarding HART: bringing it in-house and issuing a request for proposals to find alternative contractors.
As part of the program’s evaluation, the health department has developed a plan to fully transfer county responsibility over HART, which will operate at a restricted capacity during the first quarter of 2025 and eventually be fully operational by the end of the year. According to the proposal, the changeover would first focus on Districts 1 and 4, then move into District 2.
According to the proposal, this strategy would eliminate the requirement for a short-term switch to a new third-party vendor and enable HCPH to directly manage program operations going forward. Clearer responsibility and improved cooperation with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), emergency medical services, other HCPH departments, and community partners would be made possible by direct oversight.
When DEMA’s contract with the county ends at the end of January, the updated structure will go into effect. At a cost of $6.6 million annually, the program will run from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., when the most calls occur.
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