City of Austin Public Health Committee met May 22.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
THE SPECIAL CALLED PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE COMMITTEE MINUTES
Public Health Committee Members Present:
1. Chair Vanessa Fuentes
2. Vice-Chair José Velásquez
3. Ryan Alter (Virtual)
4. Zohaib "Zo" Qadri
Housing and Planning Committee Members Present:
1. Chair Natasha Harper Madison (Virtual)
2. Vice Chair Ryan Alter
3. Zohaib "Zo" Qadri
4. Allison Alter (Virtual)
5. Jose Vela
Call to Order
Chair Vanessa Fuentes called the Public Health Committee meeting to order at 1:05 PM. Chair Fuentes changed the order of the agenda
Public Communication: General
1. Paulette Soltani (Called)
2. Alredo Reyes (Called)
3. Vernon Jamon (Called)
4. D. J. Cortez (Called)
5. Sharonda Robinson (Called)
6. Barbara Elmore (Called)
7. David Carroll (Called)
8. Walter Moreau (Called)
On the motion by Councilmember Ryan Alter and the second by Councilmember Zohaid Qadri to waive the rules to allow the individuals for Planning and Housing Committee to speak as if they signed up for the Public Health Committee. The motion passed without objection.
Approval of Minutes
1. Approve the Public Health Committee minutes for April 3, 2024 meeting.
On the motion by Vice Chair José Velásquez and the second by Council Member Zohaib Qadri, the minutes for the April 3, 2024 meeting of the Public Health Committee were approved on a vote 4-0.
Briefings
4 Briefing on permanent supportive housing capacity and the Travis County Supportive Housing Initiative pipeline.
5. Briefing on the City’s Rapid Rehousing Program by the Homeless Strategy Office.
Received a briefing from David Gray, Homeless Strategy Officer, Jamie May, Housing and Community Development Officer, Pilar Sanchez- Travis County Executive for Health and Human Services and Nathan Fernandez, Senior Planner.
Discussion and Possible Action
Speakers on
2. Discussion and possible action regarding ongoing and future permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing projects, and service funding, including collaboration with Travis County.
Received a briefing on on social impact on non-profit organizations from Suzanne Anderson from Age Of Central Texas, Christopher Hamilton with Texas Health Action, Dan Leal with the Seedling
Mentors and Javier Valdez with Naomi Central Texas.
The Public Health and Housing and Planning Committees jointly recommend to the full council that the City Manager undertake the following work:
1. Coordinated Assessment and Wait List Review: Work with the Continuum of Care’s Leadership Council, Travis County, service providers, and community organizations to evaluate the coordinated assessment and referral process and make recommendations to improve the wait list for rapid rehousing (RRH) and permanent supportive housing (PSH).
2. Improve Pathways to PSH: Explore and provide recommendations with the Leadership Council on the creation of a “Bridge to PSH” program to support individuals eligible for PSH and who currently receive RRH and provide increased flexibility for the Homeless Strategy Office (HSO) to deliver RRH vouchers in the most effective and impactful way for up to 24 months, as necessary.
3. Collaborative Long-Term Planning and Investment: Initiate collaboration with Travis County, Central Health and other partner agencies, including the private sector, to establish a forum for the partners to understand the current scope of public sector and philanthropic strategies to address homelessness in our community; discuss the opportunities and challenges of the homelessness response system; and identify opportunities to align strategies, programming, services and/or funding to better address homelessness in our community.
3. Discussion and possible action on the status and timeline of amendments to the Land Development Code.
Staff provided a memo and updated GANTT chart. The committee had no questions. There was no action taken on this item.
Future Items
None
Chair Fuentes adjourned the Public Health Committee meeting at 3:07 PM.
https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=430239