Wednesday, March 4, 2026, 1 p.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall
Committee: Public Health Committee
The Public Health Committee, chaired by Council Member Fuentes with Vice Chair Duchen and Council Members Alter and Velásquez present, approved the February 4, 2026 minutes and the reappointment of Judge Alvarenga and Jessica Paulino to the Sobering Center Board of Directors, which moves to the full Council. The committee then received an update from Central Health, Integral Care, and Community Care Health Centers on their coordinated behavioral health 'islands of care' model for low-income and uninsured Travis County residents, including discussion of homelessness-linked mental health care, respite beds, supportive housing funding gaps, and the city-led Austin First and No Wrong Door initiatives. Carrie Rogers of the city's legislative office provided context on those programs. The committee also received a briefing from Austin Public Health on the 2025 Travis County Community Health Assessment, covering disparities, priorities, and how outcome data could inform the city's social services reset.
0:01 Alright. Hello. Good afternoon everyone.
0:06 I call to order this meeting of the Austin City Council public health committee meeting.
0:10 It is 1:01 pm on Wednesday, March 4th, 2026, and we are here in City Council chambers.
0:17 Hello, former Council Member ann kitchen is with us today.
0:21 Good to see you, Council Member.
0:24 Um, welcome everyone. It is our March public health committee meeting.
0:27 I'm joined on the dais by our vice chair Council Member uchin, as well as members, council members
0:32 Ryan Alter and José Velásquez.
0:34 For our agenda today, we'll start with public communication, then we'll move on to consideration of approval of
0:40 minutes from the February 4th committee meeting.
0:43 We'll then discuss and take action on the reappointment of two members to the sobering center board of
0:48 directors. From there, the committee will receive an update by central health community care health centers and integral
0:55 care on the mental health system of care for low income and uninsured people in travis county.
1:00 And then lastly, we will have a briefing on the 2025 travis county community health assessment.
1:06 That was, we were originally gonna have that last committee meeting, but that got bumped to today.
1:11 Any questions or comments?
1:14 Very good. If the clerk May please welcome our speakers from the community.
1:18 If I can have maria campos.
1:39 Thank you chairwoman. Good afternoon, members of the committee.
1:42 My name is maria iso and I'm here representing committees and schools of central texas in support of
1:48 our continued partnership with the city of Austin.
1:51 Cis is a direct response to two urgent challenges.
1:54 The city has prioritized the student attendance crisis and youth mental health.
1:59 We provide relationship-based trauma-informed supports on campus if students get help early before challenges escalate into crisis care,
2:08 emergency response, or more costly public systems.
2:13 We now have rigorous texas-based evidence showing this approach works and pays off a new harvard cornell study
2:20 with opportunity insights ed redesign lab using education records and leaked census data and federal tax data analyzed
2:28 outcomes from more than 16 million texas students and found that sustained success to cis middle school increases high
2:36 school graduation and strengthens long-term economic mobility.
2:41 Here is why it matters for the city in terms of return on investment.
2:44 The study finds that cis changes adult outcomes by reducing the likelihood of students ending up in the
2:51 bottom income quartile defined as under 15,000 a year where 80% are not working.
2:58 Instead, communities and schools of central texas increases the likelihood students move into the next quartile, meaning more
3:05 young adults attached to employment and stable earnings.
3:09 And the fiscal impact is real.
3:11 Three years of cis at an estimated cost of $3,000 per student as projected to generate approximately $7,100
3:19 in additional lifetime federal tax revenue per student and present value.
3:24 In other words, cis more than pays for itself through increased earnings and tax contributions.
3:31 This is why communities and schools of central texas is not only a student support strategy, it is
3:37 smart and good fiscal public policy.
3:40 Investing in cis helps prevent long-term costs tied to non-employment and economic instability, and it strengthens Austin workforce
3:48 and tax base. Thank you for your time and your continued commitment to Austin students and families.
4:02 Up next, we'll have dr.
4:04 Jacob reach.
4:17 Good afternoon council members and Austin public health staff.
4:20 My name is jacob breech and I'm the new chief operations officer at communities and schools of central
4:26 texas. I also have a strong history here in Austin, spending many years serving Austin students at our
4:32 local school district during that time.
4:35 And now during my time at cis, one thing has been evident and that's that relationships matter and
4:41 I am grateful to have such a strong partner in the city of Austin and Austin public health
4:46 in this work. Thanks to your partnership, cis is able to provide mental health supports directly to Austin
4:53 students at a scale and efficiency that May not be possible through other avenues.
4:58 Our partnership also allows us to provide the male student achievement program at Austin, isd high schools, which
5:05 encourages male students to create positive brotherhood and empowers them to support and build skills that they need
5:12 to author their own paths of success.
5:15 But what I'm really excited to share today is the new groundbreaking study conducted by opportunity insights in
5:22 partnership with ed redesign labs at the harvard graduate school of education.
5:27 This study empirically proves that cis has positive improvements to standardized test scores, raises graduation rates, and increases
5:37 earnings in adulthood. This research was recently, uh, featured in the atlantic and you can also find it
5:43 on communities and schools, national website and communities and schools of central texas website.
5:49 Uh, if you want an easy way to find it, if you just search for cis harvard study,
5:54 it's gonna be the first thing that comes up, uh, that research when resources meet relationships, the returns
6:02 to personalized supports for low income students demonstrates that ci s's relationship driven approach drives outcomes.
6:11 Two things that I want to briefly highlight is that the study found that exposure to cis increased
6:17 graduation rates by 5.2%.
6:20 Uh, it also showed advanced economic mobility.
6:23 Three years of exposure to cis increases lifetime lifetime earnings by more than $75,000.
6:31 I did bring, um, some summary copies of the report and I'll leave them with your staff.
6:36 Uh, but I just want to thank you for our continued partnership and our commitment to building really
6:41 strong relationships with all of Austin students as we continue to support their social, mental and academic needs
6:48 here in Austin. Thank you.
6:52 Lastly, we'll have lisa barden.
7:06 Good afternoon. My name is lisa barden and I serve as the executive director of keep Austin fed
7:11 and a member of one voice central texas.
7:14 I'm here today to speak to how the current and future potential cuts to social services, particularly those
7:19 affecting food access impact.
7:21 Not only contracted providers, but also nonprofits like ours that do not receive any government funding.
7:27 When funding the food access programs is reduced, the need does not disappear.
7:31 It simply shifts. Families who lose access to supportive programs still need groceries.
7:36 Seniors who can no longer access services still need meals.
7:41 Students who rely on community food programs still need nourishment so they lean more on organizations like ours
7:47 every day, keep Austin fed rescues and redistributes surplus food across Austin at no cost to the community.
7:53 We are not funded through city contracts, but we are deeply interconnected with the health and human service
7:57 ecosystem. And when that ecosystem contracts, our workload expands.
8:02 Cuts to social services create several ripple effects.
8:05 First demand increases. We distribute food to many partner organizations whose budgets are being cut and supplement food
8:12 pantries that are supported by the food bank, including the city's own rec and neighborhood centers.
8:17 When those programs shrink mutual aid groups and our smaller non-profit providers are called on to fill the
8:22 gaps, yet we cannot match, typically make surplus food appear and those populations remain underserved.
8:29 Second, coordination weakens. We've seen the outcome of this during very big weather emergencies where well-known locations are
8:36 prone to donation dumping while others with smaller voices receive no assistance.
8:41 City funded programs often provide referral pathways, case management and structured access points.
8:46 When those are reduced, nonprofits must try to absorb more outreach work with without additional resources.
8:52 Third, the need becomes more acute when prevention programs are cut, whether it's food assistance, rental assistance, or
8:58 health services, families fall further into crisis.
9:02 Nonprofits like keep Austin fed are often referred to as safety nets, but we are actually providing infrastructure.
9:07 We are part of the public health strategy that ensures nutritious food reaches communities consistently and equitably.
9:14 And we are part of the economic system and environmental systems that prevent waste and reduce the strain
9:19 on landfills. I encourage council to consider that reductions in social service contracts do not simply reduce line
9:25 items in a budget.
9:26 They increase pressure on the broader nonprofit ecosystem, including organizations without city contracts, and they result in higher
9:33 downstream costs in healthcare emergency response and crisis services.
9:38 Sustaining food access and other core human services is not charity.
9:42 It is foundational infrastructure that supports workforce participation, student success, community health and economic stability.
9:50 Thank you for your leadership during a difficult budget environment.
9:54 Thank you. That's everyone.
9:58 Thank you. Uh, thank you everyone for your testimony today.
10:01 Colleagues will now move on to approval of previous meeting minutes for item number one.
10:05 Can I get a motion?
10:06 And second motion vice chair uchin seconded by Council Member Alter to approve the February 4th, 2026 meeting minutes.
10:15 Any discussion or corrections?
10:17 Alright, any objections to the approval of the February meeting minutes?
10:21 Seeing none, those stand approved.
10:23 Moving on to item number two, discussion and possible action on the reappointment of members to the sobering
10:29 center board of directors colleagues, we have two members on the sobering center board, judge varga and jessica
10:37 vinno, who have recently expired.
10:39 Ms. Vinno has expressed interest in being reappointed for another term as well as judge varga.
10:44 And, uh, well, judge alvarenga is a joint appointment with travis county.
10:49 The commissioner's court has confirmed they have taken action to nominate the reappointment of the judge to another
10:55 term on their end.
10:57 Uh, can I get a motion?
10:58 Motion by vice chair uchin?
11:00 Seconded by Council Member Velásquez for the approval of a reappointment of both judge ague and jessica paulino
11:07 to the sobering center board of directors.
11:10 Any discussion? Okay. Any objection?
11:15 Alright, that stands approved and we'll go to the full counsel for consideration of the reappointment of those
11:21 positions. Now we will move on to item number three.
11:25 I'd like to welcome pat lee, president and ceo of central health.
11:29 Jeff richardson, president ceo of integral care.
11:33 Nick jagoda, evp of ambulatory services and ceo of community care for an update on the mental health
11:39 system of care for low income and uninsured people in travis county.
11:44 Thank you all so much for being here.
11:46 And I also see, see we have members of the board for central health also in attendance, and
11:51 we welcome y'all's participation and presence.
11:57 Thank you. Chair Fuentes.
11:59 Excuse me. Okay, great.
12:03 Hello and thank you chair Fuentes, vice chair uchin Council Member Alter Council Member velazquez, and also as
12:09 you mentioned, wanna, uh, thank and acknowledge, uh, integral care board chair trish young brown, central health vice
12:15 chair, elisa May, central health board member and kitchen and central health board member, uh, sidor jefferson here
12:21 with us today. Did I miss anybody?
12:23 Um, okay. Terrific. Um, so this afternoon I'm honored to be joined by jeff richardson, ceo of integral care,
12:29 and dr. Nick koda, ceo of community care health centers to provide an update on the growing behavioral
12:34 health partnership between our three organizations.
12:37 We've been working, uh, working to better align how we deliver care so that residents of the city
12:42 of Austin experience a care system that is more connected, more timely, and more responsive to their needs.
12:50 While there is still plenty of work ahead, we are building a system that we believe can become
12:54 a real model for connecting physical and mental health care across communities in texas and potentially nationwide.
13:00 And we're thrilled to share that with you today.
13:03 Uh, before we get into the partnership, and because we haven't had an opportunity to update you on
13:06 this in a while, I wanna take a moment to acknowledge a separate but related topic, which is