City OKs action plan to end homelessness
The Austin City Council on Thursday approved an action plan aimed at ending homelessness after an annual census found a 5 percent rise in homelessness in Austin and Travis County compared with 2017.
The action plan, which includes forming public-private partnerships, calls for $30 million a year to move toward a systematic community approach that can “address immediate needs, quickly connect people to housing and provide services to ensure long-term stability,” according to the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, or ECHO. The plan would double the resources that already pour into the community from both private and public funding.
“We are exploring any and all funding opportunities because
we need to vastly increase the resources we’re putting toward ending homelessness,” said Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo, who participated in counting the homeless population during the annual census this year. “It can’t just be a city or county solution. It will require additional support from private citizens, philanthropists and a communitywide response.”
The action plan, meant to be a living document that’s updated as needs evolve, focuses on boosting housing and support services as well as bolstering outreach and shelters.
In January, ECHO recruited 550 volunteers to count homeless residents sleeping in cars, tents, parks, under bridges and on the streets. People sleeping in shelters and transitional housing programs were counted on the same night.
The point-in-time count, which is a requirement from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for communities receiving HUD funds, found a total of 2,147 people experiencing homelessness. During the same period in 2017, the count tallied 2,036 people.
The count shows a 23 percent spike in the number of people sleeping on the streets compared with last year while the number of people living in shelters went down by 6 percent. Mayor Steve Adler attributed the decrease to issues such as lack of emergency shelter beds and temporary dips at shelters due to construction. Although Austin has created housing for homeless people in recent years, housing programs throughout the city are running at capacity, according to Ann Howard, ECHO executive director.
The census also shows that downtown Austin has 393 homeless residents, the highest number in any part of the city. District 3, which includes parts of East, Southeast and South Austin, has the second-highest homeless population and saw the highest increase compared with last year. In 2017, the census counted 101 homeless residents in that area; now, the census reports 212.
Despite recent campaigns aimed at tackling the problem of homeless youths, the point-in-time count recorded 93 unaccompanied youths compared with 86 counted in 2017. Preventing and ending youth homelessness has been a priority for Austin in recent years.
Other Texas cities also saw increases in their point-intime counts, including Fort Worth with 5 percent and Dallas with 9 percent.
Last year’s annual count in Austin and Travis County showed a 28 percent drop in the homeless population compared with 2016.
Most of the Austinites who spoke at Thursday’s City Council meeting, while in favor of the action plan, also urged council members to repeal ordinances that they said criminalize homelessness such as the “no sit/no lie” ordinance, which cites anyone who sits or lies down on city streets or sidewalks for more than 30 minutes at a time.
“No one in this community should be living and sleeping on the streets or in the alleys or creek beds of this community, so I call on this community to help,” Tovo said. Recommendations to implement the action plan included creating a community brain trust.
“We’re going to have to find new sources of revenue at this time and summon all of our resolve,” Adler said. “But we know what our goal is . ... Now we have to get it done.”