Brian Kelley loves his job as a licensed chemical dependency counselor at the Harris Center, but he’s tired of seeing his peers run DoorDash routes and donate plasma after their shifts so they can afford to make rent.
“Our workers serve the most vulnerable people in the county,” he said, noting that the Harris Center for Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities is one of the largest mental health authorities in the United States.
The 220 workers aren’t Harris County employees, although their board of directors is appointed by the commissioners court, so they weren’t included when Harris County adopted a $20-an-hour living wage policy last year.
Commissioner Lesley Briones proposed last week to include Harris Center employees in the policy outlined in the county’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget. If approved, their wages would be raised by 6 percent, and the pay hike would translate to about $200 more per month for each employee.
Harris County Commissioners Court is slated to adopt the budget following a public hearing at 9 a.m. Thursday, September 17.
The pay hike is a big deal, said Harris Center CEO Keena Pace. “Every day, Harris Center employees do extraordinary work supporting people with some of the most complex needs in our community,” she said at a press conference. This investment sends a clear message that their work is valued and their contribution matters.”
Briones and her colleagues Rodney Ellis and Adrian Garcia voted last week for the highest tax increase in county history, saying at the time that additional revenue is needed to maintain social services like mental health resources.
Gas prices have risen 35 percent since February and almost half of Harris County households with children are food-insecure, Briones said at the press conference. “As Harris County continues to grow, the needs continue to increase,” she said. “Meanwhile, the federal and state governments are refusing to meet the moment and meet the challenges.”
SNAP benefits were withdrawn from thousands of Harris County households last year, and even more can’t afford healthcare due to a lack of Medicaid expansion, Briones said, adding that changes to the Affordable Care Act by the One Big Beautiful Bill left the Harris Health System with $180 million in uncompensated care costs.
“We cannot control what [President Donald] Trump does or what [Governor Greg] Abbott does but what we can control is the budget we are passing here in Harris County,” she said.
More than 180 Harris Center employees were laid off or reassigned to other positions late last year because their salaries were funded by American Rescue Plan Act dollars and a grant from Texans Recovering Together, both of which expired.
At the time, Harris Center therapist Alma Castillo told the Houston Press, “If there are not enough services, it’s going to cost the county more because it will lead to more hospitalizations, homelessness and people going to jail, things that could have been mediated with the proper mental health services.”
Harris County’s FY 2027 budget also includes investments in an apprenticeship initiative, which has a 100 percent job-placement rate in trade programs, and a worksite safety policy, which requires site-specific safety plans and inspections.
Hany Khalil, executive director of the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation, said government budgets reveal a community’s priorities, “and this one shows Harris County choosing to stand with working people at a time when our state and federal leaders are abandoning them.”
Khalil’s organization encompasses 75 unions and represents 60,000 workers across the Gulf Coast. Houston-area union members recently secured wage increases and negotiated new contracts at HIlton Americas, Marriott Marquis, George R. Brown Convention Center, the Houston Airport System and Ashland Specialty Chemicals.
Harris County’s 2027 budget also offers the first-ever consultation policy through which 5,691 eligible employees get a formal channel to weigh in on personnel rules and workplace decisions involving their jobs. They also get a consultation agent who will represent them when grievances are filed.
Kelley, who also serves as vice president of the United Workers of Harris Center Local 6154, said that “one job should be enough,” not just for Harris Center employees but for all workers trying to support themselves and their families in an unpredictable economy.
“Just last year, commissioners adopted new wage requirements for county employees and county contractors. Until now, we haven’t been a part of that despite being county workers,” he said. “These investments mean that the people protecting our public health, building our hospitals and working in mental health facilities can afford to live in this community that we all serve.”
