The big picture
This spring, the Austin-Travis County health agency was confronted with the effects of widespread funding cuts at the federal level, the result of rescinded unspent federal COVID-19 pandemic funding.
The first wave of cuts resulted in the immediate loss of around $2 million in unspent dollars, per county documents, affecting the the following programming:
- Disease intervention specialists
- LBGTQ+ tobacco cessation
- COVID-19 epidemiology, vaccination and outreach
- Refugee health screening services
However, the recent update highlighted additional grants that are considered at risk because APH either hasn’t received an official grant award for them or because the program content is not a federal priority, or both, APH spokesperson William Malm said in a statement.
The agency identified approximately $19 million in grant funding currently supporting local HIV programs, including the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS, or HOPWA.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ended the BioWatch program effective May 31. The program conducted air monitoring for bioterrorism agents across the Austin area, particularly during high-profile events like SXSW.
According to Austin Public Health, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality—which oversees the program—has not received federal payments since January. The city of Austin has vouched to fund the program through the end of June.
The remaining smaller funding cuts would impact local community programs like substance use prevention, sexually transmitted disease education and neighborhood violence prevention programs.
A closer look
APH Director Adrienne Sturrup said the changes have affected employee morale and services, and leave the community more vulnerable to disease.
In total, APH expects tens of millions of dollars in losses that translate to various programs and dozens of staff positions.
“We understand, being a public health department, that we are heavily grant-dependent, and we understand the nature of the grants. But when it happens in a manner that we’re not used to or unexpectedly, then I have to keep people focused so that we can continue to do good work in community,” Sturrup said.
While some services are aimed at specific groups, Sturrup said the losses will still have a negative effect on overall community health preparedness and response efforts. For example, APH is losing capacity to conduct high-cost measles case tracking or screenings for a variety of conditions that could spread through the area.
“We are talking about communicable disease, and being able to catch it and treat it and support folks right out the gate. And so impacts to that are sure to be seen in the short term and the long term,” she said.
Federal adjustments can more heavily affect APH given the department’s large share of grant-supported work, with less than half of its more than 640 staff positions funded locally. Sturrup previously reported that, in a worst-case scenario, APH could lose funding for 328 full-time employees funded by grants.
“This will be a community-wide threat that we have to work together to address,” she said. “There isn’t anybody who can say they don’t need public health. If you go outside, if you eat at a food truck, if you swim in a pool, you need public health.”
