One of Travis County’s most consistent investments over the last few years has been toward mitigating the opioid overdose crisis, partially funded by a national settlement with the drug companies that helped cause the crisis. In November of last year, the county invested $400,000 of those funds into harm reduction services, and on Tuesday, they upped that to $525,000, which will be split between three community partners: LifeWorks, Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, and Vivent Health.
Earlier this year, the Travis County Medical Examiner reported that overdose deaths declined in 2024 for the first time since the county declared an overdose crisis in 2022. In order to continue that trend, the county will invest $175,000 each to three organizations doing work in different areas that make up a holistic approach to harm reduction.
LifeWorks provides low barrier mental health services, recovery support, street outreach and harm reduction services tailored to transition-age youth (aged 16-21) at risk for developing substance use disorders. “How do we know what they need? They tell us. We survey them,” explained LeShawn Arbuckle, who is the division director of mental health & well-being for LifeWorks. Since June, the organization has held 14 focus groups which have resulted in 22 unduplicated clients. The City’s Homeless Strategy Office has also partnered with LifeWorks to provide youth rapid rehousing.
The Harm Reduction Alliance (THRA) has been a vocal partner of the county’s since they lobbied commissioners to declare an overdose crisis in 2022. They operate a drop-in center with resources and also offer navigation services that link people living on the street with basic services throughout the city. All of their staff have lived experience with substance use disorder. “Many have also been impacted by incarceration and homelessness, and are able to lead with their own experience and their own stories in recovery to inspire the folks we work with,” said Gaby Libretti, THRA’s capacity building manager.
THRA’s support goes beyond opioid use disorder help, and can also involve connecting people with Central Health to address “complex medical needs of people who often aren’t seen and are afraid to go in and get care,” said Libretti. “Sometimes that looks like working with our mental health outreach workers in the county to provide mental health care to people who have untreated diagnoses like schizophrenia, and sometimes that looks like domestic violence care, housing, food stamps or whatever it may be.”
Their outreach team connected with 378 people at risk of overdose last month alone.
Vivent Health provides services like medical care, case management, a dental clinic and a food pantry to people living with HIV. They also focus on prevention, providing free walk-in STI testing and treatment, PrEP, and condoms, often in collaboration with THRA, Austin EMS and the Other Ones Foundation. Their LifePoint program looks to expand access to testing and treatment for diseases that result from intravenous opioid use.
“This is specifically pinpointed towards folks who are currently experiencing opioid use disorder, or at risk of opioid use disorder, and are also experiencing Hepatitis C,” explained Cassandra Mabry, director of prevention at Vivent Health. “The focus is on getting folks into treatment and retaining them in treatment. Folks face a lot of barriers, such as transportation issues, communication issues. Our navigators can offer them free transportation services, linkage to community resources and referrals, and appointment reminders. Because Hepatitis C treatment is rather lengthy – it can be up to 8-12 weeks – they check in with those folks really regularly and to see how they’re doing.”
Aside from these three organizations, the county has multiple ongoing contracts for peer support services, methadone, naloxone services, and a kiosk that collects sharps. Furthermore, Austin Public Health and Central Health are using their settlement funds to invest in similar services.
“I think it’s important for the public to understand the funding for these programs comes from the litigation that was brought against the opioid manufacturers for knowingly lying about the harm of their products,” said Commissioner Brigid Shea. “That’s a key tool for counties to be able to use, is to go to court to recover damages so that the public doesn’t have to pay for everything, when companies made enormous profits knowing that they were peddling incredibly dangerous drugs.”
Aurora Martinez Jones, 126th district court judge, who oversees child welfare dockets, spoke in favor of the funding, explaining that in 2024, parental substance use was a factor in 69% of Child Protective Services lawsuits filed in Travis County.
“I find myself in a unique role where, in my court, I see some of the most vulnerable people in our community who are there, not by their choice, dealing with substantial issues, with extreme poverty, substance use disorder, mental health needs. I’m able to see them coming in before they’re able to get all the support that our community has brought to invest in them through that journey of recovery, and the amazing transformation when they are there, doing it, when they are their best selves,” said Jones. “It is an amazing thing to experience– to see families just transform while in recovery.”
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