Addendum to Expanding and Promoting Family Planning Services Memo: Service and Expenditure Data for Harris County Health Entities

05/19/2023

This addendum to the Analyst's Office's memo, Expanding and Promoting Family Planning Services, presents additional family planning service data for three Harris County health entities: Harris Health System, Harris County Public Health, and Baylor Teen Health Clinic. The health entities provided client and encounter data for 2021 based on core family planning service categories. Harris County health entities had a total of 592,384 family planning service encounters in 2021. Related preventive health services had the greatest number of total encounters with 401,535 (67.8%), followed by sexually transmitted disease services with 63,939 (10.8%). 

Boards and Commissions

04/06/2023

This memo provides background information on the overall purpose of boards and commissions and the management of their appointments. The Analyst’s Office analyzed the 68 boards and commissions for which Harris County has appointment authority, conducted a good governance assessment for those whose entire voting membership is appointed by Harris County, and completed a comparative analysis of the management of boards and commissions for populous counties in Texas. The analysis found that Harris County is the only county to have a dedicated staff responsible for the management of boards and commissions, and of the 68 boardsand commissions, only 27 (39.7%) are ones on which Harris County appoints the entirety of the voting members. To improve the management of boards and commissions in Harris County, the memo concludes with several policy considerations.

Harris County Race and Ethnicity Data Collection Practices

04/04/2023

This memo provides a literature review on the definitions and concepts of race and ethnicity and provides background on federal and state guidelines and best practices for race and ethnicity data collection. The Analyst’s Office also used a survey to solicit feedback from 74 County departments on their practices regarding collection of race and ethnicity data. Fourteen of 28 respondents (50.0%) meet or exceed the US Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) minimum race and ethnicity reporting standards, and 14 respondents (50.0%) do not. Based on best practices, Harris County respondents’ current data collection practices and reporting requirements, and the practices of other large counties, the Analyst’s Office provides policy considerations related to race and ethnicity data in Harris County. 

Youth Firearm Violence

04/04/2023

This memo examines youth firearm-related deaths and offenses data in Harris County using and finds that: 1) Firearm-related deaths increased nationally and in Harris County for almost all youth across all age cohorts and sexes in recent years; 2) Firearm-related offenses among youth in Harris County increased an overall 37.3% (from 794 offenses in 2016 to 1,090 offenses in 2021); and 3) Non-firearm-related offenses decreased an overall 52.2% (from 8,675 in 2016 to 4,150 in 2021). This memo also provides brief reviews of literature on risk factors (family, social, and community) associated with youths and potential intervention programs (family-based treatment, deterrence, public health) to address youth firearm violence. To address youth firearm violence in Harris County, the Analyst’s Office provides a few policy considerations. 

Quarterly Update: COVID-19 Vaccination, March 2023

03/14/2023

This quarterly memo provides an overview of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination distribution effort in Harris County between January 2021 to February 2023, including analyses by precinct, age, race, and ethnicity. As of February 26, 2023, 26.2%(1,241,668) of individuals in Harris County had received at least one booster shot, a 3.1% increase (from 1,203,830 to 1,241,668) from November 27, 2022.