Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis issued the following statement on Commissioners Court’s vote to stop funding the county’s Holistic Assistance Response Teams (HART), which sends unarmed, interdisciplinary first responder teams trained in behavioral health and on‐scene medical assistance to calls for mental health, substance use, homelessness, and other nonemergency health and social welfare issues:
"Just three days removed from the anniversary of George Floyd's murder, Commissioners Court has cut funding to one of the most substantial criminal justice reforms that we committed to in the wake of his death.
Since launching two years ago, HART has responded to over 11,000 calls and has become a pillar of Harris County’s efforts to improve community health and safety, address our growing mental health crisis, and free up law enforcement time to focus on violent crime.
As our community grapples with overcrowding in our jails and as residents’ mental and physical health suffers in the face of disasters, we need HART more than ever.
I'm troubled that Commissioners Court has halted this successful program that saves and improves lives. I'm committed to working with my colleagues to find a solution that gets HART back on our streets to make our community safer. "