A blow to public safety, housing, health
How much of Cap Metro's $ comes from fares?
KUT reports that Integral Care, Travis County's mental health authority, is poised to lay off 10% of its staff due to a major budget shortfall largely attributed to changes in the state funding formula.
Along with the 48 individuals who were identified for layoffs, 67 vacant positions were also cut.
Employees in the union United Workers of Integral Care said layoffs would further strain staff already struggling to meet the needs of its large client base. As of 2022, Integral Care reported serving 27,550 people, making it the largest local provider of mental health services.
Megan Moriarty, who does intake and counseling at Integral’s Care’s Second Street clinic, said some patients without health insurance already don’t get the services they need due to a lack of organizational resources.
“We don’t have the staff to do it – before any cuts, before layoffs, before programs disappearing, we already don’t have enough people,” Moriarty said Thursday at Integral Care’s budget meeting.
The agency’s $131.5 million budget for the 2024 fiscal year is more than $22 million less than last year’s budget. Officials have largely attributed this dip to unexpected changes in the funding Integral Care receives from federal and state sources.
This is really bad news. The most obvious culprits are the morally and intellectually bankrupt state leaders who continue to turn away billions of dollars of federal Medicaid funds that could provide coverage to thousands of those who currently have no other options besides Integral Care.
But it may also be time for other local governments to step up. I'm talking about the city of Austin, Travis County and Central Health, the taxpayer-funded hospital district that provides medical services to the poor and uninsured.
