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Labor-HHS Requests
CHP Digital Radiology – Harris County Hospital District: Current radiology practices in the Community Health Centers are hampered by analog imaging products that limit work flow efficiencies. Existing systems require the Radiology Technologist to capture radiographic images on an imaging plate that is processed by a computed radiography device. The process is time consuming and limits patient throughput by almost thirty-three percent. Cassette based image management systems are very inefficient and resource-intensive.
The purchase of direct-capture digital imaging devices will enhance clinical work flow and will allow imaging technologist to increase productivity; Increased access to care for clinic beneficiaries is the overall program goal. I am requesting $500,000 for this project.
The Dropout Prevention Initiative – Houston Works USA: Many high school students abandon school with only a few years left to graduation. Nearly one-third of students fail to graduate with their class. There is a high school dropout epidemic. With a dropout rate over 12 percent, Houston faces the dilemma of a replacement workforce unprepared to move into the jobs its employers need. Our future prosperity rests on our ability to prepare our youth for the workplace of the future.
HoustonWorks USA has developed strategies to engage youth and young adults in activities and opportunities to assist them in becoming productive citizens. The project’s focus is to address the needs of youth and young adults that are not being met in the home or the school system. I am requesting $4 million for this project.
Education for Democracy Act: I am requesting $35 million for activities authorized under the Education for Democracy Act. The Education for Democracy Act programs are among the most cost effective programs supported by the federal government. They effectively promote among students a profound understanding of and commitment to the fundamental values and principles of American constitutional democracy as expressed in such seminal documents as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and the Gettysburg Address. They also promote students' capacities to participate competently and responsibility in the political life of their communities and the nation. Schools within our district participate in this.
Energy Venture Program for the 29th District of Texas – San Jacinto College: Energy Venture is a summer camp for 7th, 8th and 9th graders focused on the energy industry and the career opportunities it holds. San Jacinto College is the lead coordinator for the project, which involves collaboration among industry and public institutions of higher education. The camps are held at four community colleges in the Texas Gulf Coast region: College of the Mainland (Texas City), Lee College (Baytown), San Jacinto College (Pasadena and Houston), and Brazosport College (Lake Jackson). We must educate and train tomorrow's workforce in growing industries like energy. I am requesting $250,000 for this project.
The Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy – MD Anderson Cancer Center: The Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy will link together preclinical investigation in drug development, a pharmaceutical development center that can produce and test drugs according to federal standard Good Laboratory Practices, state-of-the-art biostatistics and informatics, and the country's largest clinical research program testing new cancer treatments. I am requesting $1,517,788 for this project.
International Maritime and Energy Center of Houston – San Jacinto College: This is a request for funding to allow San Jacinto College along with other regional and industry partners, to address the critical need for trained workers in both the Maritime and Energy industries. Recognizing this critical need for trained workers, and how a shortage of workers would impact the Houston Port region, numerous public and private entities have partnered with the intent to create an International Maritime and Energy Center of Houston. This project will allow enhanced training programs that develop cross-cluster trained workers that can fulfill and support not just the maritime and energy industries but the dominant petrochemical and refinery industries as well. I am requesting $625,000.
Medical Bank – UT Health Science Center: The Medical Bank will serve as a biological and genetic toolbox to be used by researchers throughout the state and country. The first of its kind and located in the world’s largest medical center, the Medical Bank, under the auspices of renown scientists from the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine, to include a Nobel Laureate, will prove to be an invaluable resource to the scientific and pharmaceutical worlds. Funds to establish the Medical Bank will help to identify individuals at risk for disease early in their lives, will prevent the development of many common diseases, and will discover new drug pathways to maximize drug efficiency while minimizing side effects. I am requesting $2.6 million for this project.
Project Grad: I am requesting $30 million for this project. Project GRAD represents more than 125,000 students and families in 13 economically disadvantaged communities across the nation. Project GRAD creates robust public-private partnerships, bringing together seasoned K-12 education experts as well as leaders in higher education, business, and community-based organizations to focus resources and expertise on low income, high aspiration school districts. In addition to providing technical and curricular support, Project GRAD offers college scholarships ranging from $4,000-$6,000 for qualified students.
Project GRAD Houston is at work in five feeder patterns of Houston ISD, serving 66 schools and over 45,000 children — 22.98% of the school district's total school population and approximately 24% of its total at-risk population. It started in our district.
Reach Out and Read: I am requesting $10 million for this project. Reach Out and Read is a national program that promotes literacy and language development in infants and young children, targeting disadvantage and poor children and families. Through fifteen years of peer-reviewed and published research, an extensive body of documentation now clearly demonstrates the importance of promoting early language and literacy skills so that children have the essential reading skills to begin school successfully. Reach Out and Read has fifteen clinical locations in our district serving 9,161 children each year.
Reading is Fundamental: I am requesting $28 million for this project. RIF enhances child literacy by providing millions of underserved children with free books for personal ownership and reading encouragement from the more than 18,000 locations throughout all fifty states, Washington, D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Funding will be used for purposes authorized in Section 5451 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. RIF is active in the district.
San Jacinto Methodist Hospital Mobile Medical Unit – the Methodist Hospital: San Jacinto Methodist Hospital (SJMH) is requesting a mobile unit to extend health screenings to underserved residents of Chambers and eastern Harris counties, Texas. The mobile medical unit would provide a variety of health services including, but not limited to, immunizations, routine screenings, and health education. A listing of proposed health screenings includes: Diabetes, Stroke, Heart Disease, Cholesterol, Hypertension, Breast & Cervical Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Osteoporosis, Hearing & Speech, and Vision.
This project’s mobile unit would address the limited access to medical screenings faced by the uninsured population and these individuals will be afforded an increased opportunity for good health. This program will also reduce the strain on emergency departments and result in more efficient delivery of care. I am requesting $157,500 for this project.
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