A: In Harris County, the zip codes with the highest rates of gun violence also have the greatest social challenges: generational poverty, insufficient or no health insurance, lack of access to healthy food, underemployment, and economic insecurity. 

As a public health department, Harris County Public Health (HCPH) views violence as a health issue. Violent behavior does not happen in a vacuum, but in environments suffering from systemic and chronic social stressors. The “public health approach” to addressing violence focuses on prevention through addressing the known factors that increase or decrease the likelihood of violence

A. Violent crime is increasing nationally and locally. In August 2021, Harris County Commissioner’s Court approved Harris County Public Health (HCPH) to establish its Community Health and Violence Prevention Services Division to administer programs that use a public health approach to violence prevention. Considering the needs of some of the County’s most violent communities, and researching other successful programs throughout the country, HCPH created the program structure, selected the pilot communities and the prevention strategies to use in each pilot.

A. HCPH will operate the program through its Community Health and Violence Prevention Division.

A. The goals are to prevent violence and improve the health, wellbeing, and self-sufficiency of Harris County community members. Violence victimizes entire communities: claiming lives, ripping apart families, robbing community members of their sense of security, and destroying their neighborhood economies. The program offers resources that are complimentary to law enforcement and addresses unmet needs.

The programs were launched in Spring 2022 in two pilot communities, Cypress Station in unincorporated Harris County and Sunnyside, in the City of Houston. We look forward to expanding to reach more of Harris County.

The Holistic Assistance Response Team (HART) will launch in some areas of Cypress Station, in unincorporated Harris County. This is a new model for responding to non-violent 911 calls.

• Not all 911 calls require a deputy or police officer. If someone calls 911 regarding a homeless person, or with an urgent mental health issue, law enforcement may not be needed.
• When this program launched, Sheriff’s Department Dispatchers now have a new option for responding to non-violent, 911 calls in parts of Cypress Station.
• Dispatchers will determine which incidents are appropriate to send a HART unit to.
• These are teams of trained social workers, behavioral health, and medical professionals.  They are not armed and will be in uniforms and vehicles identifying them as HART.
• Their training allows them to effectively assist someone in distress and connect them to the appropriate resources for help.
• If people get help with housing, mental or physical health issues, they may not repeat the behavior that resulted in a 911 call.
• HART provides resources that are complimentary to law enforcement and frees up law enforcement officers to focus on violent crime.
• These resources are provided by (HCPH) and don’t require law enforcement funding.
• The HART program is administered by HCPH’s Community Health and Violence Prevention Services Division.

A: Both the Community Violence Interruption Program and HART are currently being used successfully in dozens of U.S. cities, including in Texas. It has reduced the number of calls requiring law enforcement, connected people in distress with needed resources and freed up law enforcement to deal with violence, which is increasing locally and nationally.