Hays County to consider allocating supportive funding

The Hays County Commissioners Court will review two requests to support community-led initiatives for addressing homelessness and mental health services. 

The commissioners court will consider a sponsorship for homelessness outreach educational materials at the request of Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra. 

The $2,500 from the current operating budget would support the Homeless Outreach, Mitigation, and Emergency (H.O.M.E.) Center of Central Texas for prevention and education efforts to address homelessness in Hays County. 

H.O.M.E Center is a volunteer based group that recommends services and seeks resources through a screening process for those in need. 

They will later review Commissioner Walt Smith’s Office supporting the Dripping Springs Education Foundation for a Mental Health Initiative for students and families.

The sponsorship of $2,500 will offset mental health expenses for staff and supplies within the Dripping Springs Independent School District to launch virtual counseling sessions, virtual toolkits for parents, community resources and a social media campaign for mental health awareness. 

The commissioners will also likely accept a grant from the Texas Department of Emergency Management for $40,000 to advance community security and emergency management and support emergency management programs for mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. 

In other business, they will likely approve the submission of an application to Floodplain and Mapping project with the Texas Water Development Board Flood Infrastructure Fund for the Onion Creek Watershed Study. 

Commissioners will also potentially accept a $289,000 grant from the Center for Technology and Civic Life for the Elections Administration Office for poll workers, PPE supplies, election materials and equipment.

They will also vote on amending the Jail’s contract with Wellpath, LLC to add two additional RN positions and one administrative assistant position. Both positions are needed to assist with additional workload related to the increased inmate population and jail expansion.