Austin creating standalone homeless strategy office

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The City of Austin announced Tuesday plans to relocate its homeless strategy division from the purview of Austin Public Health and into its own, standalone office.

After historically operating under APH's umbrella, the new office will report directly to the city manager's office. Back in June, Interim City Manager Jesús Garza spearheaded a homeless strategy special assignment to incorporate "the broad spectrum of programs, policies, and funding the City utilizes in support of addressing homelessness in the Austin community," per a city release.

One of the central findings from that assignment determined the homeless strategy division's current operations under APH do "not effectively respond to this critical priority."

“While the Homeless Strategy Division was embedded within one department, the initiatives to address homelessness span multiple departments and require focused coordination,” Garza said in the release. “Consequently, I am establishing a stand-alone Homeless Strategy Office (HSO) to serve as a focal point for addressing homelessness comprehensively, strategically, and compassionately.”

Effective Dec. 4, David Gray will lead the office and serve as homeless strategy officer. He has been serving in an interim capacity since September, the release noted.

The focuses of the homeless strategy office will center on:

• Overseeing and monitoring homelessness-related contracts created between the city and third-party vendors
• Running operations at city-run and city-owned homeless shelters
• Helping work alongside city agencies, community organizations to expand housing availability across "the continuum of need," such as emergency shelters, rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing
• Authorizing and approving plans for public space management, such as outreach, cleanup and efforts surrounding "compassionate encampment closures"
• Working in tandem with the Austin/Travis County's Homelessness Response System partners to adhere to best practices, policies and procedures
• Partnering with local businesses and philanthropic organizations to help "broaden the funding base for homeless response services"

Once effective, the office will help initiate a joint independent assessment to review and assess homelessness services provided by the city and its partners. Those partners include Central Health, Integral Care, Travis County and the Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin, per the release.