Travis County Mental Health Public Defender

02/21/2023

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/02/21/texas-mental-health-workforce-shortage/ #:~:text=Texas%20currently%20can't%20use,full%2Dtime%20employees%20in%202019

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated an already short supply of therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers.

01/03/2023

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/travis-county-judge-andy-brown-2023-priorities-mental-health-facility-center/287-89b2683d-c50b-4fe3-8a6d-82e50f87e55f

Judge Andy Brown says the problem is growing and seen throughout Travis County, from overdose deaths to crime

11/22/2022

Join tonight online for our Reentry Support Group. Great for anyone who's been formerly incarcerated, their loved ones, or any allies of the reentry Community. We also meet on Saturdays both in-person and on Zoom.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85256328083

10/02/2022

06/08/2022

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/08/podcasts/the-daily/most-violence-is-not-caused-by-mental-illness-from-the-archive.html

A psychiatrist discusses mental health and mass shootings. (From 2018)

12/16/2021

MHPD has a job opening for an attorney. Please pass along to anyone you know that would be a good fit!

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/traviscounty/jobs/3338324/attorney-iv

06/03/2021

Invest in Women and Families, Not New Jails

05/25/2021

Travis County, join me for a town hall tomorrow, May 25 at 6:00 PM.

We will answer questions about COVID-19, criminal justice reform efforts, and the budget process.

RSVP ➡️ http://bit.ly/JudgeMayTownHall

10/09/2020

Deadline to apply is October 30.

As we noted back in May, when most Americans were getting one-time $1200 stimulus payments from the IRS, the government was quietly trying to deny ...

09/25/2020

“The modern homelessness crisis is roughly as old as the arcade game Pac-Man. Before the 1980s, in the decades following the New Deal, homelessness was rare and largely isolated to older men in skid row districts of major cities...What changed that wasn’t a sudden upsurge in substance abuse or irresponsibility; it was a brutal confluence of economic trends, the destruction of cheap housing, and Reagan-era austerity."

Cities have spent three decades criminalizing the homeless. Last year, Austin bucked the trend—and sparked a firestorm that still hasn’t gone out.

09/03/2020

"A new report examining the impact of recent changes to bail practices in Harris County found that releasing more misdemeanor defendants from jail without requiring cash bail did not lead to an increase in arrests for reoffending.

The findings are being cited as a win by criminal justice reform advocates who have long argued that cash-bail requirements unfairly penalize poor defendants who can’t afford release from jail before trial."

Texas' most populous county changed its bail practices for misdemeanor defendants last year following a lengthy lawsuit challenging cash bail.

08/17/2020

A flailing US economy is threatening further calamity as the financial downturn deepens and social safety nets become political footballs