Austin To Reinvest $1.5M From Police Budget To Substance Use Care

Austin TX

25 March, 2021

1:00 PM

Description

AUSTIN, TX — Austin City Council plans to reinvest $1.5 million from the city's police budget into substance use care and reduction toward residents in need. The city council said it plans to approve this proposal, which is listed on the council's agenda Thursday morning, to provide substance misuse services to low-income individuals in Austin and Travis County. Authorities said if the proposal is approved, it will authorize Austin Public Health to negotiate and execute agreements with three social service agencies to provide substance misuse services to low-income individuals in Austin. The Item 54 proposal states it will utilize social service agencies CommUnity Care, Austin Recovery Inc. and Texas Harm Reduction Alliance for a 12-month term ending March 31, 2022 and three 12-month extension options. "There are widespread substance use challenges in our community, and we know that we can't arrest away addiction," said Austin City Council Member Greg Casar. "Through this vote, we will do things differently. We're expanding street medicine teams, developing health plans for residents experiencing homelessness, and establishing long-term recovery programs. For too long, we've measured public safety by how many people we can put in jail. With this change, we're actually making Austin safer." Officials said this council item is a continuation of Austin's budget transformation from August 2020, which has already resulted in reinvestments in EMS, mental health first response, homelessness services, and more.