Item 6 - Annual Internal Review — original pdf

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Annual Internal Review This report covers the time period of 7/1/2024 to 6/30/2025 __Downtown Austin Community Court Advisory Board__ The Board/Commission mission statement (per the City Code) is: The mission of the Downtown Austin Community Court Advisory Board (“Board”), according to article 2-1-130 of the City Code, is to “advise the Downtown Austin Community Court on policy and operational issues and advise the council on the policies and operations of the court.” The purpose of the Downtown Austin Community Court (DACC) is to collaboratively address the quality of all residents in the Austin community through swift, creative sentencing of public order offenders. The Court seeks to hold people responsible while also offering help to change behavior. 1. Describe the board’s actions supporting their mission during the previous calendar year. Address all elements of the board’s mission statement as provided in the relevant sections of the City Code. During the reporting period (7/1/2024 to 6/30/2025), the Board met six (6) times. Meetings were held as a hybrid of remotely and in person. All meetings were posted and open to the public. Our actions during this time were primarily educational, including: - The board posted opportunities to receive feedback from individuals with first- hand lived experience being served in Austin’s homelessness response system on each agenda. - The Board received regular updates from DACC staff concerning Rapid Rehousing efforts, housing placements, current waitlist for services, virtual hearings and warrant confirmation policies, facilities, and the Violet KeepSafe Storage Program. DACC included Community Court News, an internal newsletter Annual Review and Work Plan Year Page # with updates about DACC operations, along with data updates across all DACC units (6 times). - Fernanda Veloz Salas, Intern, presented on DACC data visualization project. - Sarah Rodriguez, Business Process Specialist, gave an update and discussed the services provided and outcomes achieved for DACC’s Mobile Court. - Robert Kingham, DACC Court Administrator, presented DACC’s Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Report - Bailey Gray, Business Process Specialist, presented data maximization and information on new software for the Homeless Services unit. - Robert Kingham, DACC Court Administrator, presented DACC’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget update. - Marisa Malik, Director of Crisis Services and Justice Initiatives, Integral Care, provided information about the Expanded Mobile Crisis Outreach Team (EMCOT) and the Therapeutic Diversion Program (TDP). - So Yong Kim, Clinical Case Manager Supervisor, presented the Work Study Program overview and future efforts. - Chris Anderson, Court Operations Manager, provided a summary for Community Services, Violet KeepSafe Program, Court Services, and Mobile Court Services. - Jennifer Sowinski, DACC Clinical Operations Manager, shared a summary of DACC’s Walk-in Case Management services and Intensive Case Management Co-located onsite services include Peer Support, CommUnity Care, Integral Care, and Black Men’s Health Clinic. The Board discussed the DACC budget, including items coming to an end in FY25 and needs for FY26-FY27, and formed a working group to plan recommendations to City Council. On March 28, 2025, the Board approved two (2) Recommendation No. 20250328-004A and 20250328-004B, recommending the following: 20250328-004A - Support for City Council Initiatives - $2,187,348 of ongoing funding in FY26-27 budget for six grant-funded clinical case managers and programmatic funding to continue connecting clients to housing. - Future Considerations – Plan for approximately $729,116 of ongoing funding to augment DACC’s Intensive Case Management capacity by adding two housing- focused case manager FTEs and corresponding programmatic funding to continue connecting clients to housing. 20250328-004B Annual Review and Work Plan Year Page # - $2,000,000 annually in Fiscal Years 2025-26 and 2026-27 for Therapeutic Diversion Program component of the Mental Health Diversion Pilot. - Ongoing funding to continue 24/7 operations for the Expanded Mobile Crisis Outreach Team (EMCOT). 2. Determine if the board’s actions throughout the year comply with the mission statement. The Board’s actions during this reporting period comply with the Board’s mission statement. All the educational aspects described above were designed to enable us to understand the policy and operational needs of the Court, so that we may give informed advice with respect to Court policies and operations. Our recommendations to staff and leadership were built upon the knowledge learned and offered in support of the policies and operations of DACC. 3. List the board’s goals and objectives for the new calendar year. - Continue to learn about, monitor, and support the implementation of evidence- based practices to address issues of race and equity, access to care, recidivism, and homelessness. - Continue to work with DACC to assess and advocate for system redesign and funds to address the complex needs of people it serves. Respectfully submitted, Lea Downey Gallatin, Chair