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Resources for Children and Adults asks for staff and special-fund support as evaluations lag
Summary
Joel Levine, director of Resources for Children and Adults, told Commissioners Court the department has opened the Hays Center (26 residents) and requested five service enhancements including a clinical psychologist and diversion manager; Levine warned Medicaid-contracted psychologists are scarce, leaving 92 children without court evaluations last year.
Joel Levine, director of Resources for Children and Adults, outlined the department’s FY2027 requests and service pressures at Harris County’s budget hearing. He said the new Hays Center has 26 residents and that RCA is seeking five enhancements—including a clinical psychologist and a diversion manager—supported by roughly $840,000 in special-fund asks.
Levine framed the requests around a shortfall in evaluation capacity. “We had 92 children needing evaluations for the courts this past year that we were not able to serve,” he said, adding that low Medicaid contracting rates and provider shortages have left the department borrowing psychologists from other programs. He estimated a full-time psychologist could provide about 75 assessments.
Court offices pressed RCA on operational details during the five-minute rotations. The County Judge’s Office asked about downstream costs when patients remain in Harris Health for extended stays because of evaluation delays; Levine said safe discharges can be delayed up to 60–360 days in some cases and that an interim fund could cover room-and-board while SSI benefits are established. Precincts questioned offsets (furniture, executive assistant PCN) and whether diversion could be handled collaboratively across agencies; Levine said the proposed model requires a single diversion manager in charge, though staff from juvenile probation and other partners would participate.
RCA also reported offset proposals and internal transfers designed to limit disruption: nearly $2.9 million in proposed offsets with an OMB memo guidance of $1.1 million primarily achieved by moving seven positions to special revenue funds. Levine cautioned that certain special revenues are shrinking and that some service lines could be pushed “into the red” over time without new resources.
The court did not vote on RCA’s requests today; commissioners will consider RCA’s enhancements alongside other departmental proposals in ongoing budget deliberations.
