[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6572917,"mediaKeyId","3140104-50bbb1abf6b6bedc2879d99baa2a4eff","parentId",3140104,"title","Local outreach groups urge Austin to fund grassroots providers and include minority-led collaborations in budget","audioSeconds",175,"startMs",542000,"endMs",717000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3140104-50bbb1abf6b6bedc2879d99baa2a4eff&start=542&end=717","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3140104-50bbb1abf6b6bedc2879d99baa2a4eff/thumbnail_542000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6572917/Austin/Travis-County/Texas/Local-outreach-groups-urge-Austin-to-fund-grassroots-providers-and-include-minority-led-collaborations-in-budget","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6572917-9010ba63452501d63fa7f8624408aacb/orig.mp4?Expires=1770448133&Signature=Cc479Mh05wseCAPKuAVM6nmMF9yWWKDyewEs5wwPEU0TrbVBjCubBioN2UrsIK8Kuvoy0sBD1aybdmtxlTaJwnmZcgSWJWROecQH~SpZF37kehMrHd3Muw7eJWTezJItR56PWAhio1sVs4o9TJJ4RYZwwndpFH-kVeUYkdmSWHKHy0F~FXQL6zD5L1cUyVNe3l4-yhANkxdt9zvFhVAKq9Dgjio3kuvFYDtaIV8WaOngfi9uWcBAce-9jo2G8f4ZRtksU4WBF71LjSFNUi-blrfIilsVkjXjjUHCHous-Q0RGvFOXB7iPjpvVpCo2jDILkzNg0DX-rObzTGqwkwzAg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Austin","date","2025-04-28T00:00:00Z","article","A string of community providers and grass-roots organizations testified on April 28 that Austin must better resource small, often minority-led outreach groups that do day-to-day work getting people off the streets.

Jo Catherine Quinn, president and CEO of Caritas of Austin, told the committees the city needs a balanced system, uniform performance standards and predictable funding. \"Performance-based contracting protects us, those we serve and the taxpayer,\" Quinn said, and she urged more financial involvement from local government, taxing authorities and the private sector to sustain services.

Chase Wright, executive director and founder of the Hungry Hill Foundation, described a newly formed collaboration of local direct-service groups and said many partners are not included in city contracts or the proposed budget. \"We are currently here standing representing ourselves in this organ in this city right now, and it's been a problem,\" Wright said, adding that Hungry Hill serves about 700 individuals monthly and that the collaboration is largely unfunded.

An unnamed founder and CEO from We Can Now said the group has diverted more than 80 people from the streets into stable housing since 2023 and estimated those diversions saved the city \"over $25,000 per person\" and \"our program here at We Can Now has already saved the city $2,000,000.\" We Can Now's representative asked the council to include grassroots providers in budget planning and to expand access to diversion funding.

Chris Baker of The Other Ones Foundation and Mel LeBlanc of Vocal Texas also emphasized inclusion for organizations with lived experience in leadership and the need for stable funding rather than temporary grants. Several speakers urged the city to fund street outreach and workforce-development programs and to prioritize community groups that operate in places city departments or larger nonprofits do not routinely reach.

Speakers' main ask was predictable, ongoing funding and more explicit inclusion of small, local providers in contracts, shelter planning and outreach efforts. Several requested a city-administered seed fund (the staff presentation later referenced a $2 million seed fund idea) that could help community groups stand up shelter beds or stabilize operations until longer-term funding is secured.

Ending: The public-comment block underscored provider support for staff's outreach and shelter recommendations but highlighted a gap between city-contracted services and the smaller providers who said they carry frontline costs. Council members and staff acknowledged those concerns and cited staff recommendations that include continued outreach contracting, a $2 million community-shelter seed fund and further coordination with philanthropic partners.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Austin - Special Called Joint Meeting of the Public Health Committee and the Audit and Finance Committee - Apr 28, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Multiple community providers and mutual-aid groups told the April 28 joint committee meeting that city funding and contracting have left frontline, minority-led organizations under-resourced despite heavy reliance on their services; speakers asked for stable contracts, seed funds for community shelters and better inclusion in budget planning.","taxTitle","Austin, Travis County, Texas","taxId",2819,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6572922,"LifeWorks presentation: youth homelessness in Austin has quadrupled since 2020, agency says",315,157000,472000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3140104-50bbb1abf6b6bedc2879d99baa2a4eff&start=157&end=472","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3140104-50bbb1abf6b6bedc2879d99baa2a4eff/thumbnail_157000.jpg","/articles/6572922/Austin/Travis-County/Texas/LifeWorks-presentation-youth-homelessness-in-Austin-has-quadrupled-since-2020-agency-says","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6572922-09bf056da674efdce1affbd6df18cd13/orig.mp4?Expires=1770448133&Signature=Ak7nB0ZdwyV2MC2mv~egDsX5cx-cFnC0iBgLdpVrsiqAbovVeQfeib5UJwuxrAEVRNLlsF9IyMOGCP5p6ygKFlVYBjNVo-~HSiHhZ8zr9j-XEfwVleVeSwYcLTEdruDLG0rK-CIegqbv~B4zXRd~wgTErsT92ADkXAHCogdZHKceCAB58Pip0f8g61DWS4CG2ZWijUPzIlb17HsiqJaKEJzxmJ63VwzDep4kuZFL9xRGbYST5~17hTWO64N2hPdiOcgG44TJZULFrt6nDBA~T4CgynZMF08eenMkBIOI2tFOgSR0vserFBr78wATChoghJLyP~sSo~z7uL-e8s3QoQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Liz Schonfeld, chief executive of LifeWorks, urged the council committees on April 28 to treat unaccompanied youth homelessness as a distinct priority, saying youth homelessness in Austin and Travis County has grown sharply since 2020.

\"In Austin, unaccompanied youth account for about 10% of the overall homeless population,\" Schonfeld said. She told the committees that 85 percent of those youth are unsheltered, 57 percent reported foster-care experience, and nearly one-third are parenting while homeless.

Schonfeld summarized LifeWorks' program outcomes and presented projections prepared by the agency. She said the number of youth experiencing homelessness rose from about 247 in October 2020 to more than 1,000 more recently, and that current trends could push youth homelessness above 2,000 by January 2029 without additional investment. She described a fully funded, scaled response that combines diversion, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing and wraparound services and said that, with adequate investment and capacity, youth homelessness \"could effectively be resolved by November of 2028,\" while noting that people will still fall into homelessness but the system would respond immediately.

Schonfeld highlighted LifeWorks' program outcomes: nearly 1,700 youth have moved from homelessness to housing through LifeWorks over the last six years, 62 percent of those served; in FY2024 LifeWorks reported serving more than 275 youth through rapid rehousing with a 72 percent exit-to-permanent-destination rate. She said the agency has launched a scattered-site permanent supportive housing (PSH) program and is leveraging current rental market vacancies to house higher-acuity youth.

She stressed that housing must be paired with wraparound services such as workforce development, peer supports and counseling. \"Solving youth homelessness is a smart strategic investment that prevents higher long-term public costs,\" she said, citing per-person public-cost estimates for chronic homelessness that LifeWorks included in its slides.

Ending: LifeWorks asked the council to prioritize investments that scale diversion and housing interventions and to ensure supportive services are part of any expansion intended to reduce youth homelessness. The presentation was entered into the committee record and considered as part of staff and community testimony informing the broader funding discussion.","At the joint April 28 committee meeting, Liz Schonfeld, CEO of LifeWorks, presented data showing a sharp increase in unaccompanied youth homelessness and outlined a model that, if fully funded, could make youth homelessness \"rare, brief and nonrecurring\" by late 2028.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6572926,"City staff propose roughly $101 million package to sustain and expand Austin homelessness response",2852,2039000,4891000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3140104-50bbb1abf6b6bedc2879d99baa2a4eff&start=2039&end=4891","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3140104-50bbb1abf6b6bedc2879d99baa2a4eff/thumbnail_2039000.jpg","/articles/6572926/Austin/Travis-County/Texas/City-staff-propose-roughly-101-million-package-to-sustain-and-expand-Austin-homelessness-response","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6572926-c44428189b6536ac2e6fa89590b5f44c/orig.mp4?Expires=1770448133&Signature=fInKUgeEOwDOsVbPXk9BYymPgN~NFWPvrrDBgs1QLubfclLpXgopVjTVChDciI~eGIwcL2BRAOBFEHXdsXB58UB7bXlSkG1X2z-KMdNE4pp1gB0DZhnDDfvVcXe7~jeiwH2W0bVrAeGcQVGeAhT0OTASxaCBH5zLbbr4lv8Vc75LFdBoPZ1wQ5wiATi30nxw-ivEPlet4JWuVZcv3jjEykdiOQ1BIsJXGrofhxDr9HLbr1uCeDimTLdEGH2OY~gr-1qLw1EU5P3KccC3a2o3z8VKVhjBg3wbkfPcvuJRu9rkrV8jcZzGNRWV8Ayz8ipMo3RwyUf4Kxr2IAMgS~MChg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","David Gray, staff lead for the city's Homeless Strategy Office, told a joint meeting of the Audit & Finance and Public Health committees on April 28 that staff had compiled a set of funding and staffing \"considerations\" totaling just under $101,000,000 to sustain and expand Austin's homeless response system.

\"Our total investment consideration package total is just under $101,000,000,\" Gray said during the staff presentation, adding that roughly one-third of the package would be to convert currently one-time investments into ongoing funding, one-third would be new city investments and one-third would be new investment requests to other system funders.

The staff recommendations respond to a council resolution adopted in January directing staff to examine funding sources, partnerships and opportunities to prioritize ongoing investments in the homelessness response system. Gray said the package reflects four guiding principles: that any recommendation must produce a measurable reduction in homelessness prevalence; that investments should span prevention through permanent supportive housing (PSH); that interventions should be matched to client needs; and that the city cannot fund the system alone.

Key figures and components described by staff include:
- $15.65 million in ARPA-era programs staff recommended the council consider continuing, including an $8 million allocation to keep the Marshalling Yard shelter open and $3 million to move people from bridge shelters into housing.
- A $5 million request to expand street outreach and encampment management (including $2 million for external partners and $3 million tied to bridge-shelter housing), and a $2 million seed fund for community-based emergency shelters.
- A plan to develop roughly 550 new shelter beds by 2029 (the staff analysis cites the State of the Homeless Response System report's recommendation of 550 new beds) and a capital-plus-operating estimate of about $32.3 million to pursue that shelter expansion, with operating costs per shelter bed framed as a range depending on services: roughly $25,000 per bed annually for basic shelter and about $34,000 per bed annually for a housing-focused shelter that provides housing navigation and case management and can serve 3\u00043 clients per year.
- Rapid rehousing and PSH investments: staff recommended system-level allocations to produce and operate new rapid rehousing placements (a $23 million system ask with $12 million of that tied to the city) and to convert $4.8 million in one-time funding for PSH supportive services into ongoing support. Staff estimated a well-resourced PSH package at about $35,000 per unit annually ($20,000 for supportive services plus an average $15,000 rental subsidy).
- Staffing and systems requests for the Homeless Strategy Office (HSO): Gray asked the council to consider adding 40 positions to HSO, prioritizing encampment management and street outreach, data and technology staff, shelter support, administrative capacity and executive management.

Gray and staff repeatedly framed the package as a mix of maintaining gains built with ARPA dollars and making targeted new investments so the overall system can respond faster and more effectively. \"If you align your investments, when you align your programs, you optimize your success,\" Gray said, using a Clydesdale-horse analogy during the presentation to stress coordinated funding and operations.

Committee members pressed staff on details and timelines. Council Member Alison Alter and Council Member Vanessa Vel\u0000E1squez asked about peer-city staff levels and the durability of ARPA-funded programs; Gray said Austin's HSO is lean compared with peer cities and repeated that several ARPA-funded items would require ongoing support if the city wants to preserve current capacity and outcomes.

Staff emphasized that many of the recommendations are designed to be implemented in partnership with other funders, including Travis County, Central Health, philanthropic organizations and corporate partners. Gray told the committees that some funding partners have indicated they are willing to align behind housing solutions and outreach investments.

The presentation did not propose any ordinance, budget adoption, or final vote. Staff said the items would be folded into the city manager's proposed budget later in the spring for council consideration and that the office would continue detailed conversations with funding partners and city departments.

The committees scheduled follow-up meetings and next steps as the council moves into the fiscal-year budget process.

Ending: The staff presentation framed the $101 million package as a mix of sustaining ARPA-era gains, expanding shelter and outreach capacity, bolstering permanent supportive housing and adding HSO staffing. Gray and multiple council members emphasized partnership with other funders and the need for measurable reductions in unsheltered homelessness as a yardstick for any new investment.","At a joint April 28 meeting of the Austin City Council's Audit & Finance and Public Health committees, Homeless Strategy Office staff led by David Gray detailed an investment package totaling just under $101 million to preserve ARPA-era programs, expand shelter and outreach capacity, and add staffing to the city's homelessness office.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Local outreach groups urge Austin to fund grassroots providers and include minority-led collaborations in budget

LifeWorks presentation: youth homelessness in Austin has quadrupled since 2020, agency says

City staff propose roughly $101 million package to sustain and expand Austin homelessness response