Kate Volti

Kate Volti, MPAff, oversees programmatic and policy work focused on child and youth specialty healthcare. Since joining the Meadows Institute in September 2016, Kate has worked on assessments of children’s mental health systems in Houston, Lubbock, and Nueces County. She has also led numerous child and youth-focused projects including: an analysis on options to finance crisis mental health services; co-authoring a toolkit to help communities prevent and respond to child sex trafficking; projects to support community efforts in Houston in North Texas to prepare to strengthen the foster care system; interdisciplinary work focused on the intersection of foster care and mental health and education; and establishing and supporting the implementation of Youth Crisis Outreach Teams. Kate also oversees Meadows Institute projects on juvenile justice and mental health, and mental health care for young people with Developmental Disabilities.

Prior to her employment at the Meadows Institute, Kate held several positions with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). At HHSC, she served as Director of Community Access in the Office of Social Services, Senior Policy Advisor charged with designing the STAR Kids Medicaid managed care model for children with disabilities, External Relations Specialist, and lead for the Task Force for Children with Special Needs. She arrived at HHSC after serving in the Texas Senate as a Senior Policy Advisor where she focused on policy solutions benefiting children and youth.

Kate received her Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School at the University of Texas and her Bachelor of Arts in Cross-Cultural Anthropology and Political Studies from Pitzer College.