This survey is conducted annually and involves collecting data from agencies that serve homeless persons on the average number of persons they serve per day, their characteristics and their service needs. In 2001, this survey was conducted in March. Responses were received from the major shelter and service providers in Austin/Travis County. Data from homeless agencies do not fully reflect the local homeless population, however, because not all homeless persons use available services. Some homeless adults, youth, and families are unable to benefit from services because of limited space. To account for this population, the survey data are adjusted by adding estimates of the homeless population not currently receiving services. These estimates are based on data from agencies that conduct outreach to homeless persons living on the street and from shelters and based on the number of people service providers turn away per day and are unable to serve because of lack of capacity.
The charts below show the gap between the current inventory and the estimated need for housing and for supportive services. The "Estimated Need" reflects the estimated number of homeless individuals needing the housing or service listed on any given day. This number includes homeless persons currently receiving services, and those not receiving services. The "Current Inventory" column reflects the number of beds or service "slots" designated for homeless persons only on any given day. The difference between these two numbers is the unmet need.
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Chart 4.
Estimated Need vs. Current Capacity of Emergency Shelter and Housing Beds in Austin
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Chart 5.
Estimated Need vs. Current Inventory of Supportive Services in Austin
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Based on the data reported above, the Homeless Task Force identified the following areas as critical gaps in the local continuum of care:
EMERGENCY SHELTER
In the past several years, the need for emergency shelter for homeless persons has been widely discussed in Austin and Travis County. Emergency shelter is the first point of entry into services for homeless persons and, therefore, an important step in helping people access the services they need to exit homelessness.
Each sub-population of homeless individuals has different needs in emergency shelters. In Austin/Travis County, several shelters exist to meet the various needs of each sub-population. Homeless youth have few shelter resources. As a result, many of these youth live on the streets or in camps. The number of beds for homeless single men and women is also inadequate. This shortage is exacerbated because some beds are reserved for homeless people with specific needs.
In Austin/Travis County, homeless families with children have many resources. However, despite over 200 shelter beds for this population, as many as 3,000 homeless women and children are turned away from shelter each year because of a lack of capacity (1999 Austin/Travis County Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grant). When homeless families seek shelter, many have already exhausted all their other resources (for example, friends and family). Unfortunately, family shelter have a four to six week waiting list and many families end up sleeping wherever they can (in cars, in camps, in motels) (Shinn, et al, 1996).
Fortunately, the needs for emergency shelter among homeless men, women and children is in the process of being addressed. New shelters are being developed for each of these populations. These activities are discussed in greater detail in the section IX of this assessment. Yet, even with these resources, the need for emergency shelter will not be fully met. The backlog in demand for shelter among homeless families means that many will still have to wait for assistance.
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TRANSITIONAL HOUSING
Transitional Housing is temporary housing augmented with supportive services. It is designed to be a step between emergency shelter and permanent housing.
Until recently, Austin had a relatively large supply of transitional housing for families. In the past few years, however, many of these units have been lost because of insufficient funding for maintenance and operations. The largest single transitional housing complex for families was sold in November 2000 because it was too expensive to repair. Most recently, 16 homes that had been purchased specifically for homeless transitional housing were sold for use as Section 8 housing.
The decrease in the number of transitional housing units is especially grave given the overall lack of affordable housing in Austin. For many homeless families, transitional housing serves as their only bridge to self-sufficiency. The six to twenty-four months that families live in transitional housing gives them time to save money for housing in the open market, or to secure subsidized housing. Without this resource, many homeless families are likely to become homelessness again.
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PERMANENT AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The lack of affordable housing in Austin and Travis County has been well documented. The degree to which it impacts the local continuum of care is important to note. The lack of affordable housing prevents homeless adults, families and youth who are leaving shelter or transitional housing from becoming independent. Furthermore, the lack of affordable housing creates a backlog in service delivery, preventing many persons on the streets from obtaining even the most basic shelter services.
The continuum of care model provides a series of steps to move from homelessness into permanent housing. Since permanent housing is the final step in the continuum, if it is not available, bottlenecks occur.
One type of permanent housing is SRO units, consisting of one room with private or shared bathrooms and kitchen facilities. The primary resource for this type of housing, however, no longer exists. Many men with limited resources and job skills lived in SROs. SRO housing offered few amenities, but were inexpensive -- affordable even to persons on fixed incomes and persons with disabilities. In the 1970s and 80s however, an estimated one million units of SRO housing was demolished in the name of urban renewal. (Dolbeare, 1996). With no alternatives, many of those people who were housed in SROs became homeless.
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SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICES
Despite increased funding over the last few years, substance abuse treatment for homeless persons continues to be limited. As indicated by the Gaps Analysis table, approximately 1,550 homeless persons need substance abuse treatment on any given day, yet there are only 263 treatment slots available. Because of this shortage, many homeless persons cannot receive treatment at the time they request it. This often leaves those people seeking treatment discouraged and therefore reluctant to return to seek treatment.
Inpatient/outpatient services, follow-up and relapse prevention services are also lacking in the area of substance abuse treatment. Many chronic substance abusers also require follow-up residential and intensive outpatient treatment in order to maintain their sobriety (CAN, 2001). Follow up treatment is especially important for homeless persons who have long histories of substance. Unfortunately, these services are expensive and limited.
In addition, Austin's high housing costs make it difficult for persons exiting from treatment to obtain stable housing. Research done by Oakely and Dennis in 1996 shows that housing stability is critical to successful recovery from addiction. Combining housing with supportive services can help many recovering addicts achieve independence, stability and permanent housing. Without access to housing after treatment, homeless persons are forced to return to their prior environments.
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MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Many mentally ill homeless people are unable to obtain access to mental health services they need because of a lack of resources. Currently, only 135 units of supportive housing in Travis County available to the estimated 509 homeless persons with mental illness. Nonresidential mental health care is even more limited in availability. Most mental health care in Travis County is provided by Austin/Travis County MHMR (ATCMHMR). However, this agency is financially limited to serving only the most seriously mentally ill persons. Homeless individuals with depression, anxiety or other less serious disorders have fewer services available to them.
Even the mental health services provided by Austin Travis County MHMR are becoming more limited as a result of the loss of federal and state funds. ATC MHMR's ACCESS program, which provided outreach and services to chronically homeless mentally ill persons living on the streets, is slowly being phased out in 2001. The loss of this program means that approximately 1200 homeless individuals per year will not receive even the most basic services. Many of these individuals live on the streets and are the most vulnerable of all of Austin's homeless - victims of crime, fearful or mistrusting of service providers and unable to use available shelters because of their behavior or habits.
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JOB TRAINING AND PLACEMENT AND CHILD CARE
Homeless persons with limited job experience, limited reading skills, or limited knowledge of the expectations and requirements of full time employment have difficulty securing employment. "Mainstream" providers that also serve the general public provide job training and placement services available to homeless persons. The Capital Area Workforce Development Centers are the primary source of such services. Homeless individuals may feel overwhelmed by the computerized job listings, the application forms, and the job fairs. For individuals who have lived on the street for a long time, or have a long history of working day labor and temporary jobs, a more basic job readiness service is needed to prepare them for Workforce Center programs.
For homeless families with children, a significant barrier to employment is childcare. In a study of ten U.S. cities, 41% of homeless families cited the lack of childcare or pregnancy as the reason they could not work (Homes for the Homeless, 1999). Furthermore, young homeless mothers may also have limited basic job skills and experience and require additional training in order to obtain employment that will pay a living wage. With many homeless families facing deadlines under the new Welfare to Work requirements, the situation may only get worse. Once Welfare to Work benefits expire, parents are left without subsidies to help pay for child care, and - in most cases - jobs that barely cover their housing costs.
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B. What is Being Spent?
Within homeless services, an annual survey is conducted to determine which funding sources agencies have. The survey is conducted as part of the Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grant consolidated application. This is the most comprehensive assessment of the community's investment in the homeless service arena.
Table 6 and 7 below provide a list of funds available or anticipated to be available for homeless services in Travis County in 2001. Table 6 outlines expenditures by CAN partners with homeless service programs. The City of Austin, Travis County, United Way contribute more than $8 million per year for homeless prevention and housing and supportive services for homeless persons. The City of Austin and Travis County together spend over $6.8 million to purchase social services to assist the homeless. The City has also committed to substantially increase its investment in homeless services under the Homeless Initiative.
Table 6.
Homeless Investments in Travis County by CAN Partners, 2001*
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CAN Funding Agencies
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Annual
Expenditures
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Percent
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City of Austin
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$5,113,253
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59%
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Austin and Travis County Joint Social Service Contracts
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$2,154,217
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25%
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Travis County Direct Services
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$774,504
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9%
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United Way/ Capital Area
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$630,625/3.2 mil?
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7%
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| TOTAL |
$8,672,653
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100%
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In addition to spending by CAN partners, other local and state agencies spend millions of dollars on homeless services for Austin/Travis County (see Table 7). When added together, over $26 million is being spent every year on homeless services for the local area.
Table 7.
Homeless Investments in Travis County by Selected Major Investors, 2001*
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CAN Funding Agencies
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Annual
Expenditures
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Percent
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State
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$1,021,690
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7%
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Federal (Grants to the City of Austin-see Appendix H for breakdown)
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$14 million
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87%
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Faith-Based Organizations
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$151,000
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1%
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Foundations
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$139,979
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1%
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Individual Donations through Electric or Gas Utility
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$619,961
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4%
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| TOTAL |
$15,932,630 |
100% |
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Note: The 2001 period represents varying fiscal calendars.
*Most agencies collect information by type of service provided, not by population served. Services for homeless are often combined with services for the total population. Thus, the information provided here does not provide the complete picture.
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