AUSTIN, Texas — The debate over how to address homelessness in Austin has been heating up all summer. In June, City Council voted to loosen rules on camping and lying, prompting pushback from the community and city leaders to reevaluate its policies. Staff at the City Manager’s Office said at a City Council work session Tuesday, that they will not be bringing forth recommendations for authorized encampments or parking areas.
- Work session held Tuesday
- City focusing on "housing first"
- Will not authorize encampments
When the City Council voted to change the ordinances, they also directed staff to come up with a list in each district where camping could be allowed. In a memo, representatives of the city’s Homeless Strategy office said research shows that creating those encampments can be costly and difficult to close once they have opened.
They also said those environments have little impact on reducing homelessness. Instead, city leaders said they want to focus on providing permanent housing opportunities, which can connect people to support services. The approach is called “housing first.”
“Focusing more on the ‘housing first’ strategy is getting to the heart of the issue, because, if we let people remain in encampments, then we’re not getting them connected to the services that they need, and we risk leaving them languishing on the street,” said Kristi Samilpa of the Homeless Strategy Office.
Tuesday, Mayor Steve Adler released a document outlining guiding principles and plans to address homelessness in the city, noting it the council’s “highest priority.”
The document said they, “…should consider placing restrictions from among areas such as those set out below because they are not the most safe, humane, or best places for people to be, or because they pose public safety risks or public health hazards.”
Those possible places where limitations would be set include:
- Vehicular traffic
- Sidewalks, paths, and trails
- Schools/childcare facilities
- Creeks, rivers, floodplains, flood ways, high fire risk areas
- Areas with high pedestrian activity
- Specifically naming some streets (e.g. Congress Avenue, Second Street, Sixth Street, South Congress, or the Drag, etc.)
- Entrances to buildings, residences, or businesses
- Shelters, bridge homes, navigation centers
- The ARCH
The nonprofit Integral Care has been following the “housing first” approach when it comes to addressing homelessness. Ellen Richards, the chief strategy officer for Integral Care, said their goal is to move people from the streets to housing by removing barriers for admission.
“Like credit history, like criminal records or active mental illness, the ‘housing first’ model removes those barriers and allows people to move into a home without precondition. Once they have those recovery supports that go with the housing, they can turn their lives around,” Richards said.
Integral Care currently provides access to housing and support services to 500 people. A 2018 report that followed 115 clients found that before those people were receiving services, they went to the emergency room 891. After two years, the number dropped to 117.
“Communities where ‘housing first’ has been used have experienced significant savings in reduced utilization of emergency and crisis services, as well as criminal justice services,” Richards said.”
Loretta Buster is a former client of Integral Care who did not have a home. She said living on the streets of Austin can be unnerving, especially for a woman, but it still wasn’t the scariest place she had been.
“As scary as the streets were it didn’t have anything compared to being in a home with someone who was terribly abusive,” Buster said.
“In the relationship I was in, I couldn’t eat or dress the way I wanted or say anything that I wanted. I was so controlled and manipulated that I had no control over my life. I found freedom being homeless,” she said.
After escaping domestic violence, Buster was moving in and out of shelters. In 2013, she connected to a case worker at Integral Care. Within three months, Buster was placed into permanent housing. Today, she is now renting and planning on going back to school.
“It was a fresh start, a do-over. It was life changing for me,” Buster said.