Item #70 on 5/6 Agenda - designated camping areas
Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 6:26 pm
Colleagues,
As you’ve probably seen, today’s second addendum has an IFC I’m sponsoring with Council Members Alter, Kitchen, and Renteria and Mayor Adler for the May 6, 2021, Council meeting.
As the former Chair of the ECHO Membership Council and a longtime advocate on this dais for ending homelessness in our community, I want to provide additional background for this action, which I think could ultimately be an effective strategy to provide safer spaces for our neighbors experiencing homelessness.
As some of you may recall, in the summer of 2019 we directed the City Manager to identify areas throughout the city for safer camping for our constituents experiencing homelessness. The City Manager at the time declined this course of action. But our reality -- and our resources -- have changed since the summer of 2019. This resolution re-initiates the idea of the City creating temporary designated campsites with services such as security, lighting, restrooms, and storage. It also directs the City Manager to conduct research on national best practices, identify appropriate properties available to the City, and estimate implementation costs.
We have a lot to learn about whether this will be a good strategy for Austin and, if so, how we can do it well. A few years ago, I sponsored the resolution to work with the National Alliance to End Homelessness to revise the ARCH contract and ensure that our emergency shelters were low-barrier and trauma-informed. During NAEH’s workshop in Austin, conversations about designated camping arose among the present social service providers. NAEH urged us to consult experts to incorporate learnings from other cities before implementing designated campsites or similar efforts. My co-sponsors and I have posted this item to the agenda because I believe we must initiate this work quickly -- we can’t afford to delay what could be an important component of our homelessness response system.
Temporary, designated camping spaces are one way we can help mitigate the persistent safety risks for our unsheltered neighbors. This solution is not perfect -- the ideal solution is more low-barrier and permanent supportive housing. Until that can be achieved -- an effort I will continue to promote at every opportunity -- I believe we must examine the viability of offering safer places to live temporarily until permanent housing is available.
I look forward to the discussion in this forum and on the dais on Thursday.
As you’ve probably seen, today’s second addendum has an IFC I’m sponsoring with Council Members Alter, Kitchen, and Renteria and Mayor Adler for the May 6, 2021, Council meeting.
As the former Chair of the ECHO Membership Council and a longtime advocate on this dais for ending homelessness in our community, I want to provide additional background for this action, which I think could ultimately be an effective strategy to provide safer spaces for our neighbors experiencing homelessness.
As some of you may recall, in the summer of 2019 we directed the City Manager to identify areas throughout the city for safer camping for our constituents experiencing homelessness. The City Manager at the time declined this course of action. But our reality -- and our resources -- have changed since the summer of 2019. This resolution re-initiates the idea of the City creating temporary designated campsites with services such as security, lighting, restrooms, and storage. It also directs the City Manager to conduct research on national best practices, identify appropriate properties available to the City, and estimate implementation costs.
We have a lot to learn about whether this will be a good strategy for Austin and, if so, how we can do it well. A few years ago, I sponsored the resolution to work with the National Alliance to End Homelessness to revise the ARCH contract and ensure that our emergency shelters were low-barrier and trauma-informed. During NAEH’s workshop in Austin, conversations about designated camping arose among the present social service providers. NAEH urged us to consult experts to incorporate learnings from other cities before implementing designated campsites or similar efforts. My co-sponsors and I have posted this item to the agenda because I believe we must initiate this work quickly -- we can’t afford to delay what could be an important component of our homelessness response system.
Temporary, designated camping spaces are one way we can help mitigate the persistent safety risks for our unsheltered neighbors. This solution is not perfect -- the ideal solution is more low-barrier and permanent supportive housing. Until that can be achieved -- an effort I will continue to promote at every opportunity -- I believe we must examine the viability of offering safer places to live temporarily until permanent housing is available.
I look forward to the discussion in this forum and on the dais on Thursday.