Employees at Integral Care, the nonprofit that manages mental health care across the Austin area, intend to unionize. A group of more than 20 employees gathered at Integral Care’s South Austin headquarters Monday morning, dropping off a letter to the nonprofit’s CEO, David Evans, informing him of their intent. Employees say unionization would help address […]
Travis County
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County to temporarily halt applications for rental assistance, pending Treasury response
There was no shortage of confusing acronyms and numbers being batted around during Tuesday’s discussion of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Option One, Option Two, ERAP 3, ERAP 2, the aggregate of ERAP 1 and ERAP 2. “Can we refer to it as Option Two instead of Option B?” someone asked. Here’s the gist: There […]
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What would remote work mean for Travis County?
In September, Travis County announced its goal to transition 75 percent of its employees to work from home permanently, tasking Deloitte Consulting to smooth the process. On Nov. 18, commissioners convened a special session to examine the findings of Deloitte’s 14-week study on remote work in the county. The presentation included case studies of other governments […]
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County updated on historically underutilized business program
On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court fielded discussion and informational updates in regard to the Historically Underutilized Businesses program performance in 2021. The project is aimed specifically at making the process of government contracting and procurement with local businesses more equitable. According to Texas Health and Human Services, the program is “committed to ensuring […]
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County acts to prepare for next big storm
The question of disaster relief preparedness was central at Tuesday’s Commissioners Court session. With the memory of Winter Storm Uri still fresh in people’s minds, the county is putting together a contingency plan. “The goal here is to get some real sort of concrete things that we can do quickly,” County Judge Andy Brown said, […]
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Following string of bigoted acts, county joins state in denouncing antisemitism
The only item on Tuesday’s Commissioners Court docket pertained to a resolution condemning antisemitism in all its forms in Travis County. The resolution comes in response to a recent series of antisemitic acts in Austin and Travis County, as well as other cities and counties in Texas. Travis County is joining communities across the state […]
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Commissioners applaud county’s assistance to ‘those who need help’
On Tuesday, Health and Human Services staffers gave commissioners a report from the Family Support Services Division, the section of HHS that operates out of community centers and provides basic services for low-income families. According to Kirsten Siegfried, HHS division director, the program has already spent double what it spent this time last year – […]
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County staffers update commissioners on the jail plan resolution
Last Tuesday’s Commissioners Court session focused on the future of the women’s jail. The Planning and Budget Office reported on the June 15 resolution, which asked county staff for strategies to reduce the number of incarcerated women and enhance jail services with diversion programs and other reforms. The resolution also prohibits any new activity in county […]
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County back on track for emergency rental assistance disbursal
Last week, Travis County staff distributed a little over $509,000 in Emergency Rental Assistance Program money to qualifying families and individuals in need, according to County Executive Sherri Fleming. This brings the total amount of federal money allocated by the county to up 47.6 percent of its target, though as Fleming notes, $2.8 million in […]
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Three-quarters of county employees to work from home for good
The Travis County Commissioners Court is moving ahead with an unprecedented initiative to dramatically increase the number of county teleworkers, with the lofty goal of having 75 percent of county employees permanently working from home. In June, the county hired Deloitte Consulting to help smooth the process. Travis County Human Resources Director Shannon Weidauer delivered […]
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County pledges more than $100 million to eradicate homelessness in three years
On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court committed $110 million in federal funding toward housing the homeless. The money, sourced from a $247 million chunk of the American Rescue Plan Act funds designated for county assistance, will likely be administered via dozens of nonprofits, including Mobile Loaves and Fishes, Caritas of Austin, Integral Care, LifeWorks […]
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Why Travis County is struggling to spend its federal rental assistance dollars
As we spoke by phone this week, Rakhi Agrawal glanced down at the stack of papers on her desk. “My eviction notice – it’s right here on my desk,” she said. It’s been a long journey for Agrawal, who moved to Austin to work in nonprofit development, to arrive at this eviction notice. At the […]