In July of 1995, the Austin City Council, in response to concerns voiced by the general public and by business leaders, considered adopting an ordinance to ban camping in public places. The Council directed City staff to convene an ad hoc committee, The Homeless Resolution Task Force, to consider a proposal to create a public campground for homeless people. The Task Force conducted a community needs assessment, identified community resources and service gaps, and outlined a continuum of care, or range of services, for homeless individuals.
In January of 1996, the Council adopted a no-camping ordinance and voted to establish an official City task force on homelessness. The task force developed a comprehensive plan of action that the City could use to address homelessness. The Homeless Task Force became an official planning body of the Community Action Network (CAN) in 1996, and in December of that year published A Comprehensive Plan for Addressing Homelessness in Austin/Travis County. The plan included goals and potential resources to support a full continuum of services, to prevent and reduce homelessness. This plan was a first large-scale effort in the Austin/Travis County community to assess the local homeless situation and to identify ways to address it. Development of the plan was conducted with participation from all sectors of the community, including service providers, business persons, community based organizations, religious organizations, neighborhood associations, homeless advocates, community members, and homeless and formerly homeless individuals. The Comprehensive Plan has served as the area's strategic plan for helping homeless persons to achieve self-sufficiency and is incorporated into the City of Austin's Consolidated Plan which is updated yearly. The Comprehensive Plan also served as the basis for the Homeless Task Force's 1997 Implementation Options report which identified strategies to reach the goals set in the Comprehensive Plan.
The Comprehensive Plan and Implementation Options reports were also the foundation for a major local initiative to address homelessness in Austin and Travis County. The City of Austin's commitment to achieving the goals of the community's plan was demonstrated through the development and implementation of the Homeless Self-Sufficiency and Responsibility Initiative ("Homeless Initiative"), approved by the Austin City Council in April 1998. The goal of the Homeless Initiative is to help homeless persons to achieve self-sufficiency while also holding them accountable for their actions. The Homeless Initiative is based on recommendations in the Homeless Task Force reports. The City has provided financial resources to implement projects that respond to the most critical gaps identified in these plans and has added several components including the Downtown Austin Community Court. The partnership between the CAN Homeless Task Force and the City of Austin has resulted in development and implementation of many of the recommended services and in funding plans for the remainder. Some of the major projects/activities that have been achieved since the Comprehensive Plan was created are described below.
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A. EMERGENCY SHELTER
Any facility, the primary purpose of which is to provide temporary or transitional shelter for the homeless in general or for specific populations of the homeless. Most serve specific sub-populations including single adults, families with children, survivors of domestic violence, youth and pregnant and parenting teens.
1. SHELTER FOR MEN
The City will build a new downtown shelter designed for people who have lived in homeless situations for a long period of time. The shelter will be housed with a day resource center and a health clinic. It will provide 100 beds for men and is expected to be completed in July of 2003. The additional 100 beds will bring the total number of shelter beds for men to 267.
2. EXPANDED SHELTER FOR HOMELESS WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
- The new SafePlace shelter for survivors of domestic violence and their children on Grove Boulevard opened in January of 2001. The number of shelter beds for women and children increased from 70 at the former site to 100 at the new site.
- A 60-bed facility for single adult homeless women and for women and their children is currently being renovated. The shelter will offer a range of supportive services including case management, ESL and GED classes, job training, and life skills classes. This facility will be operational in November 2001. Furthermore, the opening of this new shelter frees up some space at the current family shelter.
3. INTERIM/ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY SHELTER
Emergency shelter space represents a short-term gap in the service continuum. The Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) has moved to an interim location where it will be housed until the permanent shelter, resource center, and clinic are constructed downtown. In addition to day resource center services such as showers, laundry facilities, mail service, telephones, and life skills classes, the interim facility will provide overnight shelter to 73 men.
4. SHELTER FOR PERSONS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS
SafeHaven added shelter beds for persons with mental illness after 1996. The SafeHaven is funded primarily through the HUD Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grant rant, and the City and County provided the matching funds for this facility.
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B. TRANSITIONAL HOUSING
Transitional housing is defined as housing that is available to a person for six to 24 months and includes case management and other support services, such as child care and employment training, to help homeless individuals transition from homelessness or emergency shelter into permanent housing.
1. TRANSITIONAL HOUSING FOR HOMELESS WOMEN AND CHILDREN
- SafePlace will add fourteen units of transitional housing to their existing 26-unit complex (83 beds). Although this is funded primarily with federal funds through the HUD Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grant, the City had provided mathcing funds for the construction of these units.
2. SCATTERED SITE TRANSITIONAL HOUSING
- Transitional housing can be provided in a single structure at one site, multiple structures at one site, or in multiple structures at scattered sites. One example of scattered site transitional housing is the ReEntry program at Caritas of Austin. ReEntry uses recovery-based group homes (for recovery from substance abuse), single-room occupancy housing, and boarding houses for transitional housing. This has allowed ReEntry to:
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- house people more quickly
- provide a more supportive housing environment around recovery
- house persons who are in recovery in neighborhoods that are relatively free
- from street corner drug dealing
- move out of the position of being the client's "landlord" yet remain as the client's case manager and advocate (Davis, 2000)
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C. PERMANENT HOUSING
Permanent housing is housing for which occupants pay no more than 30% of their income. May be provided privately or publicly. This is the ultimate goal for every person in the Continuum of Care.
1. PERMANENT AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Affordable housing is available through the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, which houses approximately 5000 people every night, using public housing units, and Section 8 rental assistance vouchers. The City's Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Office administers Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), HOME grants, SMART Housing funds, and Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs). Permanent affordable housing includes housing for people with mental and physical challenges and is often called "permanent supportive housing."
The City's Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Office (NHCDO) uses federal and local resources to address the community's goal of creating/retaining 5,000 affordable housing units annually by 2005, as discussed in the "City of Austin's 2000-2005 Consolidated Plan." NHCD links housing services through a continuum from homelessness to home ownership. The five-year goals will be addressed through rehabilitation and construction of housing units, seeking nonfederal funding resources, facilitating regulatory reform, and assisting non-profit housing developers.
Community Partnership for the Homeless is planning to build and operate 30 units of permanent affordable housing for families. Six of the units will be designated for families that include a member with a disability.
2. SINGLE-ROOM OCCUPANCY HOUSING (SROS)
SRO housing is affordable rental housing with either individual or shared kitchen facilities and bath facilities. The Capital Area Homeless Alliance is currently seeking funding for operating an 85-bed SRO facility. The City government has considered providing a subsidy for capital investment through the Housing Trust Fund with a goal of securing 100 more units of SRO housing.
3. PERMANENT HOUSING FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
Permanent Housing for Persons with Disabilities is community-based, long-term housing including supportive services. This housing is designed to help homeless persons with special needs to live as independently and productively as possible in their communities. Special needs include mental illness, physical disabilities, and HIV/AIDS. Program funding comes mainly from HUD's Continuum of Care funding and HUD 811 funding.
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D. SUPPORTIVE AND PREVENTIVE SERVICES
These services are designed to assist people who are at risk of becoming homeless and people who are homeless and working through the continuum of services in the community.
1. SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT
The City's Homeless Initiative recommended that expanded substance abuse detoxification and treatment be purchased from service providers in the community. Increased substance abuse treatment services for people in homeless situations have been gained through increased funding specifically set-aside for homeless persons and a Substance Abuse Managed Services Organization (MSO) agreement with ATCMHMR.
2. EMPLOYMENT TRAINING
The Homeless Initiative recommended job readiness as a goal. Many homeless persons lack the education, work experience, or job skills to be able to access full-time employment. The City and County provide funding to numerous agencies for workforce development services. In contracting for these services, the City and County require that agencies conduct outreach to homeless service providers in order to make services more available to homeless persons.
Concurrent with expanded homeless services in the downtown area; the City addressed concerns about existing programs serving people who are homeless. The Day Labor program had been an important resource for homeless and low-income persons seeking employment. The Day Labor program was moved in 1999, and new operational guidelines were implemented. The Day Labor program is now part of the City's overall workforce development efforts.
3. CHILD CARE
Increased availability of affordable childcare was recommended, reflecting the need for childcare so that parents and guardians could access employment. The City administers grant funding through CDBG for The Bridge childcare assistance program, which serves families in homeless situations. SafePlace and the Passages case management program receive funds directly from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to assist with childcare expenses.
4. DAY RESOURCE CENTER
The Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) currently operates at 400 Nueces. The resource center will eventually be co-located with the planned downtown shelter and homeless health clinic. The day resource center provides centralized intake and assessment, referral, and direct access to services that people need in order to transition out of homelessness. The resource center also provides services such as showers, telephones, mail service, and laundry facilities to meet people's basic needs.
5. HEALTH CARE CLINIC
The clinic is currently housed inside the Salvation Army. It provides acute care, preventive health services, and public health screenings. The new downtown shelter, resource center, and clinic facility will house a larger health clinic with increased services.
6. EMERGENCY FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
This service is available to people through religious organizations, Caritas of Austin, and Travis County Emergency Assistance Program. These programs have very limited funding.
7. HOUSING MEDIATION AND ADVOCACY
Legal Aid of Central Texas and the Austin Tenants' Council provide legal advocacy and landlord/tenant mediation to help people who are at risk of losing their current housing.
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E. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
The Responsibility component of the Homeless Initiative addresses concerns about public nuisance and criminal offenses.
1. COMMUNITY COURT
The Downtown Austin Community Court was established October 1, 1999 to address problems with repeat Class C Misdemeanor offenders. The goal of the Community Court system is two-fold: to address the root causes of criminal behavior in order to prevent their repeat occurrence, and to provide the community with assurances that offenders will make restitution for their crime. Under this model, the Court has greater authority to refer repeat offenders to assessment and treatment that can have life-changing effects on individuals' lives. The Court also requires offenders to make public restitution through community service. Throughout this process, the Court closely supervises offenders to ensure compliance with their sentence, and to evaluate the success of their treatment programs. The Court links the court system, social services, law enforcement, and the community. Community members are actively involved and have a say in shaping restorative sanctions
In 1999 the Texas Legislature authorized legislation that allows Courts to upgrade repeat Class C misdemeanor offenses to a Class B status upon the fourth conviction within a 24-month period. This new law allows judges to refer repeat offenders to social services as an alternative to jail and to increase the length of jail sentences for habitual offenders. Those strategies, in turn, allow more opportunities for assessment and intervention to draw people into needed services, improving their lives and the public's safety, and addressing the root causes of criminal behavior in order to prevent their repeat occurrence.
2. ORDINANCES/ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS
· No Camping Ordinance
In January of 1996, the City Council adopted a no-camping ordinance that prohibits camping in public areas, except in designated areas. "Camping" means to use a public area for living accommodation purposes, as evidenced by stored belongings, tents, camp fires, and cooking.
The original ordinance also prohibited sleeping in public areas, but that clause was removed in September of 2000.
· Aggressive Panhandling Ordinance
While few municipalities now maintain or actively enforce absolute prohibitions, Austin still has an absolute prohibition against begging on the books. The new ordinance replaces our current ordinance and does not prohibit begging. Instead it follows the model used by most municipalities today that only prohibits panhandling or soliciting that is done in an aggressive manner or in certain public places and situations where the solicitation of money is especially intrusive. This ordinance was proposed for Council Action on March 8, 2001, and was approved.
3. CHANGES TO DOWNTOWN ZONING / ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
A committee was formed to evaluate possible zoning changes to ensure the compatibility of land uses adjacent to the proposed shelter, resource center, and clinic facility. In addition, the committee considered the need for economic incentives in order to ensure the continued growth and development of property near the proposed facility. The committee completed its report in 1999 and made the following recommendations: (1) the adoption of an ordinance to create a Northeast Downtown Overlay combining District; (2) the promotion of existing incentives, and (3) the provision of a catalyst for development in the area surrounding the Salvation Army. These suggestions will be further considered nearer to the opening date of the shelter, resource center, and clinic facility.
The City of Austin and Travis County have made great progress in addressing homelessness in the community. The Homeless Initiative represents a substantial financial investment on the part of the City and County to expand services that homeless people need to become self-sufficient. Perhaps more importantly, the Initiative has helped to unify many diverse constituents on the issue of homelessness. Through careful planning and negotiation, and extensive discussion and public hearings, the local government has helped to build a shared commitment to the goals of the Initiative among all sectors of the community. This alliance of businesses, neighborhoods, homeless persons, advocates, and service providers has allowed Austin and Travis County the opportunity to work toward ending homelessness, and to make the changes that are needed to realize success.
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F. OVERSIGHT GROUPS
The City of Austin is reviewing the oversight structure and may recommend consolidation to streamline the process. Currently, three groups are involved in oversight.
1. THE HOMELESS TASK FORCE
Established by the Austin City Council in January 1996, the Homeless Task Force was charged to develop a comprehensive plan for addressing homelessness in Austin/Travis County, which was completed in December 1996 with five year goals for each gap identified in the local continuum of care. The Task Force serves as the Community Action Network's official planning body for homeless issues and is comprised of service providers, homeless advocates, business and neighborhood representatives, public agencies, and community representatives. The Task Force meets monthly.
2. CITY OF AUSTIN SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND RESPONSIBILITY STAKEHOLDERS' COMMITTEE
A Stakeholders' Committee was created as part of the City Homeless Initiative to develop and oversee the operations of proposed new homeless programs, particularly those in the downtown area. The Committee is comprised of representatives from neighborhood associations, downtown businesses, homeless service providers, homeless/formerly homeless people, and members of the faith community. This committee provides oversight to Coordinating Council, oversees the design of homeless service facilities, ensures project timelines, and monitors the fund development process.
3. COORDINATING COUNCIL
A Coordinating Council was created as part of the City Homeless Initiative. The Council is comprised of representatives from neighborhood associations, downtown businesses, homeless service providers, homeless/formerly homeless people, and members of the faith community. The Council's responsibilities center on developing and reviewing operating policies and guidelines for the downtown shelter, resource center, and clinic. The Council is anticipated to work closely with the operating board of the agency(ies) operating the facility.
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