Austin, Monitored: Child care advances and public health

This session saw legislative wins for child care providers and working parents

From Lina Fisher:

Each new Texas legislative session may introduce a new set of battles, but there are always some wins that keep us showing up to fight at the capitol every three years. This year, employers and working families alike saw the legislature make child care access easier in a state where around 95,000 people are on a waitlist to access state financial aid and the cost of child care in Travis County is more than in-state tuition at UT. 

Before addressing the general dearth of child care options, E4C sought to address how difficult it often is to access the options that are there. The childcare industry’s regulatory bodies are fractured and redundant, Charles Miller with Texas 2036 explained with an anecdote: “We were talking to a provider out in West Texas who operated a pre-K facility in the morning and a child care facility in the afternoon. The same children were involved, but (each facility was) covered under a different regulatory structure, which meant that there were different agencies creating the health, safety, wellness and quality standards. The children had to be physically moved from one room for the pre-K facility to a different room for the child care portion of it, because those standards were in active conflict.” 

Integral Care faces its budget woes

At last week’s meeting of City Council’s Public Health Committee, representatives from Integral Care laid out the growing financial uncertainties facing their menu of behavioral health, housing, crisis response, and substance use programs. While the city committed over $24.6 million in Fiscal Year 2025, with the largest shares going toward housing ($10.3 million) and crisis services ($10 million), several key initiatives face funding cliffs. Given the city’s expected shortfalls in the next budget, programs at risk include the Homeless Health and Wellness program ($541,714), the Therapeutic Diversion Program ($2 million), and the expanded Mobile Crisis Outreach Team’s (EMCOT) field response services ($1.46 million), all of which are scheduled to lose city funding by the end of September or December 2025 if not renewed. Integral Care leaders underscored that these services have been crucial in diverting people from jails, emergency rooms, and homelessness, estimating more than $4 million in annual cost savings from integrating 911 mental health crisis response alone.

Council members pressed for more coordination and transparency around future funding scenarios, particularly as the city enters its budget planning cycle in the waning days of pandemic-era federal aid. A study by the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs and Cornell University evaluated the EMCOT initiative embedded within Austin’s 911 call center and found significant impacts: emergency detentions dropped by as much as 62 percent, arrests were by up to 58 percent, and officer use-of-force incidents decreased. Call resolution times and police officer involvement were also significantly reduced. Integral Care officials confirmed they are compiling a detailed list of at-risk contracts and unmet service needs to assist the city in making informed funding decisions in the forthcoming budget negotiations.

— Chad Swiatecki

… and looks at mental health pilot program results

Integral Care leaders also offered an early assessment of a mental health diversion pilot program undertaken with partner agencies, the city of Austin and Travis County. The Crisis Care Diversion Pilot Program, which aims to steer individuals in mental health crisis away from jail and emergency rooms, launched in late 2024 and offers 24/7 psychiatric emergency services and a Therapeutic Diversion Program (TDP). The 25-bed shelter on 15th Street offers up to 90 days of stabilization and wraparound support. Early data show 94 percent of clients avoided re-arrest, 81 percent stayed out of the emergency room, and 72 percent had no additional crisis episodes within 30 days. Also, 88 percent of clients were connected to ongoing care, while 84 percent avoided emergency departments and 76 percent were not re-arrested post-discharge.

The lack of permanent supportive housing in the area presents a challenge for the program since most TDP participants require permanent supportive housing due to severe mental illness. Program leaders said the lack of established pathways to non-congregate shelters have created bottlenecks. The program is also seeing growing demand, with jail referrals now averaging a four-week wait.

The pilot is funded through a combination of sources that includes contributions $6 million from Travis County, $4.5 million from Central Health, $5.1 million in Texas Health and Human Services Commission grants, plus $1 million from the city on top of $300,000 of in-kind help for the use of its main facility. The total projected cost through FY27 exceeds $26 million, but only portions of that funding are secured. The city’s investment in TDP is set to expire in September unless extended. A formal evaluation by Dell Medical School is underway, with results expected to inform decisions on whether to scale the pilot over the long term.

— Chad Swiatecki

Elsewhere in the News

Meanwhile, Tesla is seeking to block public information about its communication with the city of Austin about a robotaxi launch later this month.

Despite rumors of its demise, Austin found itself on top of a couple lists this week. Austin Business Journal reports that we’re second in terms of corporate headquarter relocations (behind Dallas- Fort Worth) and MySA is “surprised” that Austin tops the list of places to retire.

An attempt to block the city’s aquifer storage plan has officially failed at the legislature, so that’s back on.

And, according to KXAN, the city has moved into the final phase of a plan to kill Lady Bird Lake’s toxic algae.

This newsletter has been corrected to reflect the fact that officer use-of-force incidents decreased, according to the LBJ study.

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