Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Into the Fold is part of the
[00:00:01] Speaker B: Texas Podcast Network, the Conversations Changing the World brought to you by the University
[00:00:08] Speaker A: of Texas at Austin.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts and guests and not of the University of Texas at Austin.
Before we begin, a quick note that the Hogg foundation has open funding opportunities for the Stephanie J. Bryan Bold Spirit of Achievement Scholarships and the Rio Grande Policy Initiative.
To learn more about these opportunities, visit our website at hogg utexas.edu.
Funding Opportunities Also the month of May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
Throughout the month we'll be highlighting this year's theme, More Good Days Together, focusing on the resilience and diverse experiences that shape mental health journeys within Texas communities.
To learn more, visit our website h o g utexas. Edu.
And now we bring you episode 187 of into the Fold.
[00:01:20] Speaker A: What do we want? Help it. When do we want it?
[00:01:23] Speaker C: These are also our Neighbors Moments of
[00:01:25] Speaker B: Crisis 10 to clarify what isn't working.
They force attention. They create urgency.
But once the headlines fade, a harder question remains. What comes after the crisis?
How we move from reaction to reform without losing momentum, without backsliding and without burning out the people doing the work.
Hi, welcome to into the Fold, the Mental health Podcast. I'm Mike Evans and I'm glad to have you with us as we continue our season long exploration of growing capacity for change.
This episode closes out the policy arc of our season, an arc focused on how systems change happens and how mental health policy is shaped not just by moments of urgency, but by sustained leadership.
For today, what comes after the crisis?
Avoiding whiplash in reform efforts
[00:02:33] Speaker C: the system will keep on working and keep on functioning as it does. But there's not going to be change unless someone or people are holding that system accountable to actually put the reform into place. Because it's very easy to say, you know, we're going to commission this report after a disaster happens, but the follow through, the implementation, the integration of having a better and more improved system, that is key here for any community and for any policy making body.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: Today's conversation looks at what it takes to avoid reform whiplash that cycle where systems lurch forward during crisis only to stall or regress once public attention shifts.
My guest is Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, who represents District 2.
Council member Fuentes has been deeply involved in shaping policies related to housing stability, public safety and community well being, areas where mental health intersects with nearly every decision.
Her work offers a grounded perspective on what it means to govern after a crisis and how to turn Short term responses into long term people centered systems.
Councilmember Fuentes, thanks so much for joining us.
[00:04:11] Speaker C: Thank you for having me.
[00:04:13] Speaker A: So you have served during a period marked by overlapping crises, you know, public health emergencies, housing instability, community trauma, and deep mistrust in institutions.
From where you sit, what does reform whiplash look like and why is it such a risk in policy work?
[00:04:36] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, reform whiplash is a real thing. And I will say I have experienced it both as someone who has worked and is actively working as a policymaker. And I should. Let me back up. So I get elected in 2021, and this is, you know, we're one year into the pandemic, people are still masked and we are, you know, practicing or in isolation.
And within six weeks, we have winter storm Yuri. And so I'm a freshman council member trying to learn and navigate the city of Austin as an institution, but then very quickly just jumping into disaster response mode and standing up distribution sites. We had families who were without power, we had families who were without water, we had some families who were without both for days.
And we were just trying to do emergency aid and mutual aid. And I will never forget what that experience felt like for me as someone who was brand new, learning the ropes, but understanding very acutely that when disasters strike and when emergency happens, there is our communities of color have a disproportionate burden during it.
And that's for a variety of reasons.
Historical neglect, disinvestment, disparities that we have, you name it. And so as part of that, that was kind of the first whiplash of reactionary response.
[00:06:11] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:06:12] Speaker C: And. But I remember when we were convening hearings with the utilities, we were uncovering all these after action reports that had been done in our city's previous history.
My community in Southeast Austin, we've had two devastating flooding events that have occurred that have resulted in loss of life and hundreds of families being displaced. And so we were no stranger to disasters. And what I remember feeling in that time was like, wait a minute. So in the last disaster, we had city staff conducted an investigation. They did the after action report. There were all these recommendations, and yet here we are. And it was like we didn't learn anything. None of these recommendations or hardly any of them were actually implemented. And so that was my first taste of, okay, this, this is. The system will keep on working and keep on functioning as it does, but there's not gonna be change unless someone or people are holding that system accountable to actually put the reform into place, because it's Very easy to say, you know, we're gonna commission this report after a disaster happens, but the follow through, the implementation, the integration of having a better and more improved system, that is key here for any community, any policymaking body.
[00:07:38] Speaker A: So in Austin, we've seen moments where crisis prompted bold conversations around safety, housing and mental health.
And I guess what helps to ensure that those conversations translate into durable policy rather than one time responses.
[00:08:02] Speaker C: Yeah, I think what I learned in that first disaster that I was dealing with and contending with as a new policymaker is just how important community voices are in that process. So it's one thing with an institution where they can commission an after action report and assess what happened and then provide recommendations, but unless the community's actually involved and informed not only in the input of like, this is what happened, this is what we experienced, but, but also actively providing recommendations on how to improve and then being part of the preparation so that you're better prepared and proactive, the next time there's a disaster or a crisis, you're gonna be at the exact same place unless you have community buy in and community participation. And so that's step one is how is the community involved? How are they providing input, insights into recommendations as well as being integrated into the actual setting up of structures so that the next time there' disaster.
And I'm speaking of this from a governmental perspective, but so that we're. So the government is better able to respond and more equipped to help individuals. Now the other, the second piece is the accountability. And it really is. It's not enough to just bring forward policy on, say, let's mental health. You have to actually see the policy through and ensure that it's getting implemented as directed.
[00:09:28] Speaker A: Okay, so going back to the community involvement piece, are there ways that you have been able to innovate when it comes to getting community buy in or at least attempts that have been made?
[00:09:43] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: On your watch.
[00:09:45] Speaker C: I'm very proud that I was involved. I got to serve on a board called Community Advancement Network. And it is a incredible board, that it's a powerful board and that it convenes multiple jurisdictions. So you have Travis county, you have the city of Austin, you have. Our universities are involved, you have hospital systems, our school districts. Just really incredible experienced leaders from a variety of institutions and organizations at the table.
And through my participation, I got the opportunity to chair that board.
And I understood since I was a leader in the pandemic, or navigating leadership in a pandemic, the mental health crisis that we have in Austin and What the pandemic caused, and especially amongst our youth and our girls. And so I led an initiative that was focused on mental health first aid, just how we have CPR first aid, where you go, you get trained up and certified. There's actually an equivalent of that around mental health, where you can get mental health training and you learn the skills of how do you identify when someone's in crisis, what are the symptoms, what are the signs that you can look for, and then how can you respond to someone in crisis so that you can be a better neighbor, you can be a better coworker, better friend, and better family member. And so the initiative was we wanted to train with 1000 Austinites on mental health first aid within the first year.
And since we all represented different communities and had different organizations that we were affiliated with, we very quickly activated our own membership. And I'm very happy to say that within the first six months, we hit that target. We got 1,000 Austinites trained and certified in mental health first aid. This is back in 23 or 22 maybe.
And that was really powerful. And it just reminded me the importance of community driven initiatives and the ability or really the importance of capacity building within the community because you train someone and then they get trained up as a trainer and they can go train other individuals. And I'm really proud of that initiative, and I'm thrilled to see that it's even garnered more support from institutions so that it lives on.
[00:12:20] Speaker A: So really, it sounds like avoiding whiplash requires not just good ideas, but steady leadership and patience, even when the urgency fades.
[00:12:36] Speaker C: That's so key. I mean, because. And I think your work kind of speaks to it too, is just understanding that when you're in crisis mode, when you're in urgent mode, in emergency mode, it is.
You get all hands on deck, all attention, all the resources get pushed towards it. But what happens when you're out of that mode, when life comes at you from all the different ways? And so that's why it really is important that you build the right teams, that you work in coalitions, that you have structures in place that can sustain the work, and that you have policies passed and implement.
That, to me, is key because, you know, leaders come and go, and these positions are temporary. But what remains true and what will help initiatives be successful moving forward is that regardless of the people who.
Or the individuals who sit in the role is that you have the structure set up so that whoever is in that role or in that organization or. Or helping in that system, they can do the best of Their ability, because you are properly resourcing them. You have the funding that's needed. You have the capacity built in.
[00:13:51] Speaker A: Okay.
So mental health often becomes most visible during crisis, whether that's a traumatic event, community violence, or some big system failure like what we all experienced here in 2021 during the winter emergency.
But you've spoken about the importance of embedding mental health into, like, everyday policy decisions and so not just emergency responses.
And I know that that's been an abiding concern of the Hogg foundation as well, is to kind of get people thinking about mental health as an entire continuum.
So I don't know for you, what does that look like in practice?
[00:14:43] Speaker C: Yeah, I gave an example earlier of building that capacity of mental health awareness and training so that the everyday Austinite has it, so that whatever community space we're in, we have individuals who are trained and ready to respond.
From a systems level policymaker perspective, how I approach it really is understanding the levers of influence that I have access to. So the number one thing I do as a policymaker is approve the city's budget. I believe our city's budget is a moral document. It reflects our values. And so when I look at our city budget, I look at how are we funding initiatives and creating a system that is robust and that is well positioned to respond to the mental health needs of our community independent of a crisis. How that shows up is, are we funding the right programs? Do they have what they need? Are we the right partner for this particular end of the spectrum? So, you know, I talked about earlier how we went through Prop Q and what that meant for us in our budget. And when we went through Budget 2.0, even though we were facing very significant severe financial constraints, what was important to me was that we had a fully funded mental health response system when it comes to emergency situations. And so, working with our mental health authority, Integral Care, here in Austin, Travis county, we're able now to deliver a 247 mental health response. So if you're an Austinite that is in need and you're experiencing a crisis, when you. We will now have, you know, trained and certified mental health professionals who are there to assist. And we're going to be able to provide that 24 7, you know, 356 days a year or 365 days a year. And.
And, yeah, so that's really good.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: Okay. So.
And for. For those who are doing policy work, especially those who feel exhausted, you know, by repeated cycles of crisis, which I tend to think is a more live concern these days compared to what might have once been the case.
What gives you hope that sustained reform is possible?
[00:17:23] Speaker C: Well, I'm so glad you're asking this question because I will tell you, you know, we just went through our own kind of like mini winter storm event a few weeks ago. And I think for me and my team, it's almost, there's a little bit of trauma there from winter storm Yuri of 21 and then we had winter storm Mara of 23. So anytime there's inclement weather, we're very much like responding to it and remembering what it was like when we went through severe crises.
And what gives me hope is that even with this most recent weather event I had seen and I could tell that we had made significant progress in our response system. So we were sending out text messages alerting individuals in advance in multiple languages.
We did a press conference in advance to get people prepared and ready. The number one thing that folks can do when we're expecting inclement weather is to prepare themselves and their homes and their families and their pets. And I could just, we had warming centers set up, overnight shelter set up. Just from a response level. Things had improved. And I could tell that it had improved because we were ready to respond. So the proactivity was there.
[00:18:44] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:18:46] Speaker A: And so, I mean, it almost sounds like policy itself can be a form of care when it's designed to last.
[00:18:55] Speaker C: That's right.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: And I know that the Hawke foundation, across its whole portfolio of policy work have tried to make that connection for people. I mean, it's not always easy because policy is a world of problems and just depending on what it is that you're trying to achieve.
Setbacks and always the risk for demoralization.
[00:19:28] Speaker C: But policies save lives. I mean truly policies are life saving. I talked about how we fund mental health response as a system, but that is truly life saving services. And you know, and that's why I think policy and systems itself, they, that's key to ensuring that reforms outlast and that they survive. Whoever's in leadership is because you have this system in place.
[00:20:01] Speaker A: So one more thing I want us to get to is the human side of sustaining reform. So not just for communities, but for the people inside of government who are tasked with carrying these efforts forward.
So you've had to navigate public scrutiny, emotional community conversations and long timelines for change.
And so what helps you personally stay grounded and committed to long term reform when progress can feel like incremental or even invisible?
[00:20:44] Speaker C: Yes. I mean, well, I will say that it is very Real this work and this job and anyone that's in public service.
Because oftentimes there is general mistrust in government institutions, and rightfully so. I mean, there have been just a record of history behind it.
And so it is. I'm often on the receiving end of people's frustrations and concerns about what is happening both at national level, but also here locally. But what gives me hope and is kind of my moment of like, it's all worth it because of this is truly rooted in the stories that I hear directly from the people I represent on how our policies have. How the city services have changed their lives for the better. And I cannot think of what better way to know that we can and should have a government that works for all is by rooting it in people's experiences. So when I hear directly from folks who've had a good experience with the city or that because of an initiative we have funded and invested in their lives are better because of it, that makes it all worth it.
[00:22:04] Speaker A: Okay? So, yeah, I mean, Austin, you know, I mean, obviously it has the, you know, the profile of a more liberal city, and I don't think that. But I don't think that that would make things any less contentious. Maybe. Maybe it doesn't break down ideologically so much as people's just differing senses of what the stakes are for them or for their family when it comes to a particular issue or decision.
So with that in mind, I'd love to hear about times where people have been complimentary or just laudatory about the city and what the city has been able to deliver for them in the teeth of all the skepticism that I'm sure that the council gets to.
[00:22:56] Speaker C: There's a lot. And I will say, I mean, I could just go on about federal and state overreach and what that has done to our ability to provide local governance and assistance at the local level.
[00:23:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:14] Speaker C: But, you know, despite all of that, despite all the kind of, like, the divisive and hyper partisan rhetoric that we're all subjected to right now, you know, the stories and the experiences that I hear about that resonate the most with me can range from a. Like, it can be as small as, you know, someone calls in the office and they say, you know, this intersection is really unsafe. There have been multiple crashes happening here. You know, why don't y' all do anything about it? Y' all should be, you know, on this.
And then, you know, next thing you know, after the work, incredible work of my team and holding the system of the city of Austin accountable, being able to install a traffic signal or in some other form of safety treatment and then getting to drive in the neighborhood and to see that in action and to know we have a safer crossing because this person spoke up and they shared how they, how they felt and they got to see how government was able to deliver.
That is huge.
On the mental health front, what was really important for me, another crisis we were dealing with was the opioid crisis. And a couple years ago we had an escalation of overdoses happening in our city and we very quickly. In fact, one of the policies I brought forward was regarding, we had. The city had entered into a national lawsuit with some of the pharmaceutical companies and there was a settlement that we were about to receive. I made sure those dollars were directed back into the community, back into organizations who are boots on the ground, who know the work to ensure that we are best positioned to help people. And we've seen our rates go down as a result. And I truly believe it is about investing in people and ensuring that your budget reflects the, the needs of the community.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: Okay, so I'm just curious, what kinds of things do you do that shore up your own mental health and wellness?
[00:25:21] Speaker C: Oh, you know, I'm going to be.
I will say I probably need to do a little bit more of self care and rest because there is a lot that goes on at the city of Austin.
But kind of what, what I like to do in my free time is to go hiking. I went on this, had a resolution last year in 25 to go on 25 hikes in 2025.
And I accomplished it. And so almost at least twice a month I was out going to a new trail throughout the city.
[00:25:57] Speaker A: What's a favorite spot for you?
[00:25:59] Speaker C: Oh, well, okay. I mean, you got to give it up to my.
[00:26:01] Speaker A: I need Rex.
[00:26:02] Speaker C: Yeah, McKinney Falls State park is incredible. Very close to us.
But what I. And then of course, you know, town Lake, Lady Bird Lake, that in fact this weekend we get to celebrate the completion of the Wishbone Bridge. So that means for the first time the whole entire 10 mile loop is available for folks.
But I would say probably my favorite discovery throughout the 25 different trails was at St. Edwards. And hiking that particular trail in northwest Austin was really incredible. I mean, just incredible canopy views. I just really love that trail.
[00:26:43] Speaker A: Okay, so is there anything that you would like for our listeners to kind of be aware of that are on your calendar going into the next few months and if there's a way that they could find out more Information about those things.
[00:27:02] Speaker C: Ooh, yes. Well, I mean, one, I would say we're having a community event in Dove Springs tonight or. Yes, later tonight. Well, probably when you air this episode, it might be further out. So I would say. In fact, you know what I would say. Follow me on social media at Vanessa for atx. That's Vanessa F O R A T X. I post regularly about opportunities to engage and to get involved in your local government. There's a lot that we work on and that we deal with and especially for me as the chair of our public health committee, that we consider. So definitely follow along and let us know what you think.
[00:27:41] Speaker A: Okay. Wonderful. Well, Vanessa Fuentes, thank you so much for just taking the time to be with us today and good luck with it all.
[00:27:49] Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
[00:27:57] Speaker A: As we wrap up, a quick reminder that this episode is part of our new season theme, Growing Capacity for Change.
Across four community partnership, policy and research, innovation and education.
We're exploring how people all across Texas are growing their capacity toward a better, more lasting mental health landscape.
If you missed the most recent arc of episodes partnership, it is in our back catalog and I hope you take the time to check it out for your listening enjoyment. Here are some snippets from those three conversations.
[00:28:39] Speaker C: It is a place where we are concerned not just with the soul of the person, but we're also concerned about the entire being. And so when it comes to mental health, we can be a resource. We can be a place for information, and we can also be a place where we can, you know, guide people to places where they can get the help that they need.
[00:28:57] Speaker D: So we do stuff for the inpatients and the staff.
And when nami, which is more of a. And I'll let Colleen talk a little bit more. But we love our partnership with them because they are more of an outpatient education support system.
And so we need, you know, individuals need family support, they need outside support.
And so I love that we have started a really, really binding partnership. You cannot work to address these big issues in silos. Right. Because it creates duplication, it creates confusion. And there is a power in people coming together and just sitting in a room and learning what each other is doing.
And even if that is, that is the agenda for that meeting is like, hey, I didn't know you were doing this, or I didn't know you had a van. And. And I've been needing a van for the last 10 years. There is power in just having a community come together, cross sectors, to sit in a room and talk about an issue.
[00:30:08] Speaker A: If you haven't already, check out our previous episodes this season and follow along as we continue to tell stories that connect and inspire.
And that does it for this episode. We're glad you could join us. Production assistance by Cheyenne Salazar, Kate Rooney and Daryl Wiggins. And thanks as always to the Hogg foundation for its support. If you have comments or anything you would like to share about the podcast, feel free to reach out to us at into the foldustin Utexas. Edu.
Especially thoughtful comments will be acknowledged during a future episode.
Your My Our Mental Health matters. Please leave us a review and subscribe to us on your preferred podcast platform. And don't forget to check the show notes for related content, including past episodes. Transition Music by Antoni Rajikov Taking us out now is Anna's Good Vibes by our good friend Anna Harris. Thanks for joining us.
