Harris County commissioners voted this week to expand a program that addresses behavioral health and social welfare issues in an effort to reduce law enforcement intervention.
Commissioners approved 16 new staff positions to support the county’s Holistic Assistance Response Team (HART) and Relentless Interrupters Serving Everyone (RISE) programs. The unarmed, mobile crisis response units as part of the HART program will serve all unincorporated parts of the county, which includes Houston, as part of the expansion.
Jimmy Nguyen, a crisis intervention specialist and field supervisor for the county, said the HART program is about caring for people.
“We meet people on the worst days of their lives, and we stay with them through the journey,” Nguyen said. “We’re there for the crisis and we’re there for the recovery.”
Commissioner Rodney Ellis said the county has responded to more than 20,000 non-violent, mental health-related 911 calls since the HART program launched in March 2022. The program operates with 11 teams, each composed of one crisis intervention specialist and one licensed EMT.
“HART is getting people the help they need when they need it most, decreasing our jail population, helping clear court back logs and lessening the DA’s case logs, freeing up time for law enforcement and EMS for true public safety and medical emergencies which they are better equipped to handle,” Ellis said.
The HART program has been operating in Precinct 1 and Precinct 4, which are represented by Ellis and fellow Commissioner Lesley Briones, respectively. It is now expanding across the county.
The program is part of Harris County Public Health.
“We want to make sure we are providing care not cuffs where appropriate and in times of crisis where it has nothing to do with crime,” Briones said. “We’re connecting people to the support they need, not booking them in our already overcrowded jail.”
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