City splits homeless services into new, separate office

The city has created a dedicated office for homelessness services, in a move intended to let city staff address that area more quickly and decisively.

Interim City Manager Jesús Garza informed City Council of the change in a memo released Tuesday. He signaled some of his plans for solving homelessness in June, when he assigned David Gray, formerly assistant director of the Economic Development Department, to focus specifically on homelessness and report to Assistant City Manager Stephanie Hayden-Howard. That assignment came less than two months before Gray was appointed interim homeless strategy officer following the resignation of Dianna Grey.

“The City’s current organizational structure does not effectively respond to this critical priority in our community,” Garza said in his memo.

Garza notes the change will be effective Dec. 4, with Gray promoted to homeless strategy officer. Austin Public Health’s Homeless Strategy Division and other city staff who primarily work on homelessness issues, including the Homeless Outreach Street Team, will be moved into the new office.

The office’s goals will include: procuring and managing homelessness-related contracts between the City and third-party vendors; overseeing operations at city-run and city-owned homeless shelters; working with city agencies and community organizations to expand the availability of housing for all scenarios involving homelessness; overseeing plans for public space management, including encampment closures; working with the Communications and Public Information Office to manage communications regarding the city’s assistance for homeless residents; working with the Intergovernmental Relations Office to manage relationships between local, state and federal agencies and officials; collaborating with Austin/Travis County’s Homelessness Response System partners to uphold best practices for organizations that serve unhoused people in our community; and engaging with local businesses and philanthropic entities to broaden the funding base for homeless response services.

Garza said he will give a full presentation on the findings of his June special assignment on homelessness at the Dec. 13 meeting of City Council’s Public Health Committee.

Outcomes expected from the new office include reducing the length and frequency of homelessness by identifying more housing opportunities; improving quality of life for people experiencing homelessness; expanding access to services such as mental health and job training; tracking city spending on homelessness to improve the return on investment; improving data collection and decision-making on the most important related needs; improving communications on the city’s efforts to address homelessness; and increasing investments from private and philanthropic funders to resolve homelessness.

In a prepared statement, Gray said, “As a City, our goal is to set the standard for innovative and strategic approaches to addressing homelessness and strengthening partnerships with the broad base of stakeholders who care about and invest in this issue. Creating this stand-alone office and positioning it to marshal resources from many fronts is a strong indicator of the commitment and dedication of city leaders to helping people experiencing homelessness and to provide them with hope and help when they need it most.”

In addition to the recent administrative moves, the city has taken a number of significant steps related to the growing homeless population. In September, major hoteliers across the city agreed to a new 2 percent tax on room nights that is expected to provide more than $7 million annually for the city to spend on services for homeless people.

And earlier this month, City Council agreed to spend $15 million to purchase the property formerly owned by Salvation Army as a shelter serving women, transgender people and those with disabilities. The shelter in recent years had provided up to 150 beds, a significant portion of the roughly 1,000 beds needed throughout the city on any given night.

This spring, Council approved turning the Marshalling Yard, a city-owned facility located near the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in East Austin, into a 300-bed shelter.

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

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