Homeless Response System - Tuesday Briefing

[Vanessa Fuentes]

Colleagues,

On behalf of CM Ryan Alter and myself, we wanted to flag several questions regarding our homeless response system to help frame our discussion for the work session next Tuesday, August 6. Addressing homelessness has been a top priority for Council and this has been apparent in our budget deliberations as well. Having a big-picture overview of the system, our current investments, and the outstanding needs is necessary to inform the decisions we make regarding the budget. We look forward to the discussion.
We would like to discuss the following information (estimates or ranges are suitable for discussion purposes):

1. How many people on coordinated entry and not on coordinated entry need the following interventions:
­-Homelessness prevention
-­Diversion
-Shelter
-Rapid-rehousing
-Permanent supportive housing

2. For each category above, how many people are we able to serve with available space/funding (i.e. we have enough money for 500 diversions, 300 rapid units available, etc.), and what is the source of that funding?
-Please specify specific shortages for certain populations, such as families experiencing homelessness
­-For PSH, please specify capital need and services need

3. What is our gap, by intervention type, between our system as it exists and is funded in the base budget versus what the total community need is and what is the cost of that need?
-Please specify specific needs/shortages for current programs, such as HEAL or the Marshalling Yard closure.

We’ve included here an illustrative example of how this information might be presented:
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 131245.pdf

Yours in community,
Vanessa