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Corporate Overview
Morningside Research and Consulting has conducted policy research and budget and financial analysis for public sector programs for seven years.
We provide information to guide decision-making. Our research and thorough, methodical analysis bring focus to the issues facing leaders of public institutions. We also understand that public policy development is intertwined with an organization’s financial environment and we help identify how public resources are being used and how reflective the allocation of resources is in meeting the needs and priorities of the organization.
In our consulting practice, our clients have included federal, state, local, and private agencies. Representative projects include:
• Advising the staff and board of a rural health clinic in Texas serving Medicaid clients on the options available for future operations and the benefits and challenges of the various options.
• Evaluating the regulatory and administrative functions of the state of Texas mental retardation services to recommend reductions or elimination of burdensome and duplicate functions and to reduce paperwork requirements.
• Preparing a report summarizing the work of the City of Austin Mayor’s Mental Health Task Force, a group 80 individuals who met over a period of four months to develop solutions to issues related to the delivery of mental health services in the community.
• Comparing the level of service and funding of five large, urban hospital districts in Texas with the City of Austin and Travis County.
• Collecting and analyzing data on the delivery and funding of health care services in a five-county area in Central Texas.
• Developing policy briefs summarizing quantitative research of the Texas Medicaid program.
• Assisting a state agency with an evaluation of the Texas Medicaid managed care program.
• Analyzing the local fiscal impact of proposed reductions to a state program providing HIV medications to low-income clients.
• Evaluating the performance of a local HIV prevention program targeting African-American women.
• Collecting and analyzing data and preparing evaluation reports for a local program providing healthcare and social services to pregnant and parenting teenagers.
Due to interest in our 2002 hospital district comparison report and frequent requests for an update, we now offer a subscription consisting of four in-depth publications highlighting the financial condition and provision of services of the ten largest hospital districts in Texas. For information about a subscription, please contact Shari Holland at (512) 302-4413.
Corporate references are available upon request.
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 Who We Are
Shari Holland is the president of Morningside Research and Consulting, Inc., and directs the activities of the firm. Ms. Holland has more than 15 years of experience evaluating public programs and their funding and writing policy documents for elected officials and public audiences.
Prior to starting Morningside Research and Consulting in 1999, Ms. Holland served as an assistant to the Director of the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department, one of the largest departments in both the City of Austin and Travis County. In that position, she evaluated changes in administrative policies and organizational procedures, facilitated staff work teams, and recommended improved management practices. In addition, she coordinated the analysis of the impact of state health and human services legislation on agency programs and operations.
Ms. Holland has more than 5 years of budget experience, having served as an analyst in the State of Texas Legislative Budget Office and as a senior analyst at the Travis County Planning and Budget Office. Her responsibilities included monitoring revenues and expenditures, assisting departments in the preparation of their annual budgets, evaluating budget requests, coordinating and preparing bond issuances, developing a debt policy model, analyzing the fiscal impact of proposed legislation, and evaluating and monitoring programs and performance. In both of those offices, she made numerous presentations on program and budget recommendations to the State Legislature and the Travis County Commissioners Court. Her evaluation of the State of Texas child labor laws resulted in new legislation strengthening child labor laws in Texas.
Ms. Holland has taught two sections of a course entitled "Texas State and Local Government" at Austin Community College, providing instruction on the environment and institutional structures that define Texas state and local government as well as the political processes in Texas and how public policy is developed.
Ms. Holland has a Master's degree in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs in Austin, Texas, and a Bachelor's degree in Urban Affairs from the American University in Washington, D.C.
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