INEPTOCRACY CHRONICLES – Austin moved 147 people from homeless camps into shelters this summer. Most of them are still there.
Gee . . . only 3,047 homeless to go after spending tens of millions of dollars . . .
Austin American-Statesman
Most of the people moved from Austin homeless encampments into city-owned hotels over the summer are still staying at those shelters, Austin officials said Wednesday.
Since June, Austin officials have moved 147 people out of four homeless encampments and into shelters in city-owned hotels as part of HEAL, an initiative approved by the Austin City Council to connect homeless people with housing.
About 95% of the people in those encampments accepted housing offers during the first stage of Austin's plan to relocate those living in large homeless camps, according to internal numbers gathered by city staff.
Dianna Grey, the city's homeless strategy officer, told council members during a Wednesday meeting of the city's public health committee that 119 of those people are still living in the city-run shelters.
The four encampments targeted by the city were located by the Terrazas Branch Library in East Austin, under a highway overpass at Ben White Boulevard and Menchaca Road, on Cesar Chavez Street along Lady Bird Lake, and in Northwest Austin along U.S. 183.
More:Dozens of people relocated to city-owned hotel after second Austin homeless camp cleared
More:Save Austin Now sues city, says it's not enforcing camping ban
More:Save Austin Now sues city, says it's not enforcing camping ban
The hotels where city officials are relocating people are intended to function as temporary shelters, not permanent housing. The goal is for the occupants to move into permanent housing equipped with support services and free up space for others in the city-owned hotels.
The relocation of those living in the four homeless camps was part of the fourth and final stage of the enforcement of Austin's citywide homeless ban. Although a statewide law similarly forbidding camping took effect Sept. 1, the Austin Police Department has only issued one citation for camping since July 21.
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About 28 people have already left the bridge shelters, Grey said Wednesday. At least three people exited to more permanent housing or to be reunited with family. Others left for a variety of reasons, including hospitalization for medical care, being asked to leave because of behavioral issues, or being taken into law enforcement custody. The city is holding the rooms for the people who were hospitalized, Grey said, even though the shelters are operating at "99% capacity." Moving to the shelter allowed some people access to much-needed medical treatment, she said.
More than half of those still in the temporary shelters are enrolled in programs that will help them secure more permanent housing, Grey said. About 68% of those moved to the shelters were men and a little less than a third were women. One-third of the HEAL shelter residents are Black, 57% are white, and the remaining residents identified as multiracial, American Indian or another race. Roughly 17% are Hispanic, according to the city.
Council members on the committee and Mayor Steve Adler said they were pleased with the program's success.
"I am really heartened to see that some of what was concerning about this to some members of our communities, seems to be really is succeeding," said Council Member Kathie Tovo. "I am really happy to see that it is a program that's going to continue into the future and will continue to gain support both in the community, as well as on the council because it is clearly much, much needed and is having a great impact."
The 147 people relocated to city-owned hotels as part of the HEAL initiative represents just a small portion of the estimated 2,000-plus people living unsheltered on a particular night last January, according to data from the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, or ECHO.
The political action committee Save Austin Now, which was successful in getting the camping ban before voters in November, filed a lawsuit in August alleging the city's enforcement of the local camping ban has failed.
American-Statesman reporter Ryan Autullo contributed to this story.
Ineptocracy
A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.