Travis County Diversion Center moves forward

The Travis County jail system is the single largest mental health care provider in the county area, and arrests across all categories have been rising since 2021. Since 2023, the Travis County Commissioners Court – in an effort spearheaded by County Judge Andy Brown – has sought to construct a mental health diversion center to provide acute psychiatric care to eligible people, with the hope of interrupting the criminal justice cycle and reducing recidivism.

In the meantime, commissioners have taken up a $23 million effort to establish a smaller “pilot center” that will offer diverted people – in up to 15 beds – a shorter treatment stay with the same intensive services that will be provided at the Diversion Center.

Officials have teased the opening of the pilot center for months. Since January, they have said an opening date would be set for next May. Today, officials estimated that the center will commence services in July.

On March 28, an independent staff working group came before the court to summarize their progress on planning for the center – phase one of the project – and look for the green light to move to the next project stage.

The county is now almost ready to move on to phase two of the project, which centers on an architect for the potential sites identified by staff in phase one.

The day’s presentations – “preliminary discussions,” “emerging proposals,” “ details to come,” “series of options,” the “development of recommended goals oriented towards solving this problem,” and the Byzantine ladder of a steering committee, subcommittee and no fewer than four working groups – showed that in “moving towards the effort,” presenters and collaborators were engaged in a lengthy process.

The presenters were confident regarding the pilot program but were explicit that the facility will be limited to voluntary holds, potentially making care more difficult for the county’s residents with the most severe cases.

Following a presentation on Nov. 28, 2023, the court approved a measure issuing a request for qualifications and launching the first phase of planning for the Health Diversion Center and Central Booking facility. This phase includes operations planning. Phase two will focus on design and a construction manager risk model for construction.

The plans also drew on potential project plans from 2012 and 2016 for the downtown jail and facilities at Del Valle, including an option to “support the closing and demolition of the Travis County Jail in concert with available space out at Del Valle,” a commitment which troubled Commissioner Brigid Shea, especially as they might affect space available for the counsel at first appearance (CAFA) programs available for the county.

Travis County commissioners unanimously approved staff to continue its work into phase two.

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