Criminal justice grant supports 'one-stop shop'

The Hays County Commissioners Court voted to approve the submission of two grant applications to the Office of the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division in support of “one-stop shop” for government assistance in the criminal justice process.

One of the grants is for the General Victim Assistance Program for the Hays County Victim Assistance for the Family Justice Center. 

“One of the things that has been a top priority for me since I became District Attorney is to ensure victims of crime in Hays County are kept engaged with the system, notified, connected to resources and directed to places where they can receive assistance,” Hays County District Attorney Wes Mau said. 

The grant amount of $54,868 will fund the Hays County Victim Assistance Coordinator position which will provide services and assistance directly to victims of crime to speed their recovery and help them through the criminal justice process. 

“The Family Justice Center is a place where people can go to receive various types of services, report a crime, get an examination done, seek a protective order, seek housing, seek job assistance, and is designed to be a one-stop shop for people who are seeking government assistance,” Mau said. 

Although the Family Justice Center is currently staffed by a rotation of individuals from the various offices that have a hand in the services, the grant will allow there to be a designated person dedicated to these connective services. 

The second grant to be submitted will be to renew the Mental Health Crisis Intervention grant, continuing the funding for the Certified Mental Health Professional position within the Hays County Sheriff’s Office that completes assessments and provides resources in the field to people who are experiencing a mental health crisis.

Related to COVID-19, Emergency Management Coordinator Alex Villalobos reported 762 vaccinations distributed late Monday night in Wimberley at the First Baptist Church. 

He was optimistic about the transition to the new active management system that would hopefully decrease the number of overlap between Hays County sign-ups and people who have already been vaccinated. 

Commissioner Walt Smith commended the staff and volunteers involved in distribution but ultimately called the sign-up system a failure, and called on the court to be more active in addressing all problems for all community members. 

“We are so excited to help people, we are going to hurry up and do something really good right here,” Smith said. “The job we have is to take care of the whole community, not just the guy in front of us.”

Judge Ruben Becerra said it was a challenging task to serve the community with a new system that received 70,000 inquiries in 30 minutes for  about 2,000 tests. 

“All those people who have worked so hard have not failed,” Becerra said. “We have a strong passion to serve every vulnerable person in the community.”

In other business, the commissioners  executed a $194K purchase from Kofile Technologies related to the preservation of probate case files, as budgeted. 

They also approved a construction proposal with the Lower Colorado River Authority related to the Westnet First-In Alerting Platform System. The new system is intended to reduce emergency response time and get emergency services the tools and information they need quicker, so they can have a better response.