[{"_1":2,"_96":-5,"_97":-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",[32,74,86],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":44,"_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":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},"mediaId",6641653,"mediaKeyId","3745504-46f732a91d7f98b7042e5d674501cccc","parentId",3745504,"title","Council committee to ratify late inclement‑weather shelter invoices; providers reported delayed reimbursement","audioSeconds",0,"startMs",6525000,"endMs","viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3745504-46f732a91d7f98b7042e5d674501cccc&start=6525&end=6525","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3745504-46f732a91d7f98b7042e5d674501cccc/thumbnail_6525000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6641653/Dallas/Dallas-County/Texas/Council-committee-to-ratify-late-inclementweather-shelter-invoices-providers-reported-delayed-reimbursement","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6641653-2b495113e5bba123eb2ae1eab77b597e/orig.mp4?Expires=1770450887&Signature=fg-S950-7aDmPfwXfmca0MyfmsKfxB4325Y~Sho5GAEt7hcjIMDC80qxNQM-s-bdR4dniIKb5saRN1zIQb1H7fjF8j9Y4NbB7fVGrZ0r3OaxxGqQ1Xb3gGzBR1aAiqweGDRIIGRQLhhBd25qdqf--QOky22I4wo-roJTKqSEbVKyvqLHo4Cy5b~sJpwb~i3nXdYbIz58VUBmSK73cYEpQ5R9nt9tahsKHs94KEjBJy6UF6O8KtJrNvJbzcONqAvE6loanKVpChJxQZYv9~UpbC8c7i0fip-FgFPf8pXsyBwE~97Lc5iuRGriFI5rhRgdSNiJid7Q2bdLDTncuMvNGw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Dallas","date","2025-06-10T00:00:00Z","article","The Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee on June 10 was briefed on outstanding invoices for inclement‑weather shelter provided by Austin Street and was told staff will bring a ratification item to full council to pay remaining balances.

City staff said Austin Street and other providers served elevated numbers during a longer inclement‑weather period this past winter, producing overages beyond the original budget. “Expenses would have been incurred in February,” a staff member said, and staff explained the city has been paying invoices as they arrived but had reached the end of the committee’s budget and is now bringing the remaining invoices for ratification to full council.

Committee members expressed concern about payment delays for nonprofit providers. One council member described the timing as “hard on a nonprofit,” and staff said the outstanding invoices were likely about 60 to 90 days old; staff offered to provide the specific invoice dates by memo to the committee.

No committee action was taken; staff said the ratification will be on the full council agenda and that the remaining invoices will be transmitted for payment after council ratification.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Dallas - Housing and Homelessness Solutions - Jun 10, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Committee was briefed on outstanding invoices to Austin Street for winter inclement‑weather shelter; staff said most expenses date to February and remaining invoices are being presented for ratification to full council because the committee’s budget is exhausted.","taxTitle","Dallas, Dallas County, Texas","taxId",2781,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":75,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":76,"_41":77,"_43":78,"_45":79,"_46":80,"_48":81,"_50":82,"_52":83,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":84,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":85,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},6641657,"City realigns street response under emergency management, outlines hot‑spot and closure maintenance strategy",1019,3359000,4378000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3745504-46f732a91d7f98b7042e5d674501cccc&start=3359&end=4378","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3745504-46f732a91d7f98b7042e5d674501cccc/thumbnail_3359000.jpg","/articles/6641657/Dallas/Dallas-County/Texas/City-realigns-street-response-under-emergency-management-outlines-hotspot-and-closure-maintenance-strategy","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6641657-ddb8284d884d416969829209a372dfd9/orig.mp4?Expires=1770450887&Signature=RbkH-llHaC6xlarEj-6btpVqxbmtSm7RTPopUmTLA-b-8BTrQDreWG2pHzDEUVQMdTIuTBSdeAvV4V9CCj1aSxcY98hV7xaNSG9LL7BupKHCfrvK8TbvQ66d1A0yNt5L2MFdRgTyZhPqfO5sg-63Qa3mQK1QjU5A27Nrnd12B4hQ~c3AKewL3Xr~ZbCxLJAjJ8xlP9WwEx3Q1LiMr9bD0U09MJCEBfWFYwqirU1YizaJUr2cMLp0u9vI3ey3XuZw24ha6zv-v6CCI2W0mop-hYZXLEwL8Sv26spSZr86RzBVf~hKV25LWRWGfjlC7Z2cf4CF0DKw4wiI1Dj3z2sANQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The City of Dallas has moved operational responsibility for field response to encampments into the Office of Emergency Management and Crisis Response and laid out a three‑pronged strategy — hot‑spot interventions, sustained closure maintenance and integrated behavioral‑health support — committee members were told June 10.

“We have a clear and direct mission,” Kevin Oden, director of Emergency Management and Crisis Response, told the Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee. The presentation described a realignment that centralizes field deployment, service‑request triage and encampment closure under Oden’s department while leaving long‑term policy, contracts and system planning with the Office of Homeless Solutions.

Oden said the change includes staffing and budget for a 23‑person field team and outlined how every encampment‑related 3‑1‑1 service request will be triaged into engagement/outreach, hot‑spot short‑term intensive responses, or closure maintenance. The department reported a rise from roughly 8,000 encampment service requests in 2021 to more than 11,000 last year — a roughly 45% increase — and said it is redesigning 3‑1‑1 workflows to prioritize immediate hazards and high‑risk sites.

Hot‑spot operations are defined as short, intensive, multi‑department responses to areas with repeated re‑encampment, elevated crime or significant public nuisance; closure maintenance is regular patrols and offers of day‑shelter access to keep cleared sites from reoccupying. Oden described a downtown closure effort that relies on persistent presence and coordination with Housing Forward’s outreach teams so people are offered shelter and housing pathways rather than simply moved from block to block.

Oden offered performance targets the department will publish: respond to 90% of high‑priority 3‑1‑1 requests within 24 hours and keep 80% of hot‑spot sites clear for 30 days. He said the Dallas Street Response program will track offers made, response times and re‑encampment rates and provide quarterly accountability reports to the council.

The committee’s discussion focused on operational details and equity across council districts. Several members said they regularly see encampments and drug‑related public safety concerns in non‑downtown districts and sought assurance the strategy would be applied citywide. Oden said the department is building an objective mapping process to identify hot spots and will coordinate with TxDOT, the transportation department, public works and police to schedule cleanups and, when needed, lane closures for safe operations.

Oden emphasized that enforcement will be a last resort, executed by law enforcement officers according to training and constitutional protections; he said the city will coordinate with municipal and community courts when citations lead to court referrals, and that partners such as the district attorney and behavioral‑health authorities have been engaged for complex‑needs cases.

The committee voted to place the realignment on the full council agenda for approval; Oden said the operational team is already in the field and that the city will begin publishing dashboards and weekly outcomes this quarter.","The city’s Emergency Management and Crisis Response department will centralize field operations for encampments, using hot‑spot interventions, closure maintenance and coordinated outreach in partnership with Housing Forward; officials set performance targets and noted a 45% increase in related 3‑1‑1 requests since 2021.",{"_33":87,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":88,"_41":42,"_43":89,"_45":89,"_46":90,"_48":91,"_50":92,"_52":93,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":94,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":95,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},6641662,"City and nonprofit leaders cite housing gains since 2021 but warn resources are strained",3457000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3745504-46f732a91d7f98b7042e5d674501cccc&start=3457&end=3457","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3745504-46f732a91d7f98b7042e5d674501cccc/thumbnail_3457000.jpg","/articles/6641662/Dallas/Dallas-County/Texas/City-and-nonprofit-leaders-cite-housing-gains-since-2021-but-warn-resources-are-strained","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6641662-2e57d1705052f41b883ee57f986688e1/orig.mp4?Expires=1770450887&Signature=g-52Ai8lH1tBOFm9HHt8RkX0ltWjU-EQ0nHfVDGkBxMviuIEn9nDKRalRq30E3D-ZcyHCTsM9SxDjiqLOD4EOptPZIgFTGuzn5YS0VyxlsA-gK3xObRLpca3A2mU1uASkebNWOsj26zf1M1qvko4edpAF4ojD3EF4Qv7CyyC8~lsjThM-hC5lgE32vP~TZ0nKhUYdEyXlGT2cRtVrxQ5f4onVC-8tupd0DtztjO6dLnv-IOQTVeP2q2vC4KB8s8AoJ84-7S-~L5asmgPE9aP2ukx6vO7S~tUQben0tNDOhPW3H9--S4RlRfq-OtP6CaL0IvF0dMrqGo9bZDoARzEPA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","City and Housing Forward officials told the Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee on June 10 that investments in diversion and rehousing since 2021 have reduced the number of people experiencing homelessness on any given night, but officials warned that rising inflow and shrinking short‑term funds have slowed progress in 2025.

Housing Forward President and CEO Sarah Khan said the 2021 system review revealed a “funnel” in which more people were entering homelessness than were exiting, and the city and partners began shifting resources toward low‑cost diversion and rehousing to create faster pathways out of the street and shelter systems. “This is a really light touch, low cost intervention,” Khan said of diversion, which places specialists at shelter intake to help people return to family or alternative housing with short‑term flexible assistance.

The committee heard that the combined changes have led to consecutive annual reductions in the point‑in‑time measure that counts people experiencing homelessness on a given night and that the system has housed nearly 16,000 individuals since 2021. But Khan said that progress “slowed in 2025,” citing both increases in people flowing into homelessness and the end of some rapid‑rehousing funds.

The report described three pillars of the Street to Home effort that began with a downtown operation: (1) a multidisciplinary outreach and behavioral‑health response targeted to places with concentrated homelessness, (2) accelerated diversion at shelter intake, and (3) expanded rehousing supports that combine rental assistance and case management. Khan highlighted a small group of about 20 people with severe behavioral‑health and substance‑use needs who required coordinated inpatient, crisis‑residential and housing placements worked “one by one” with hospitals, law enforcement and outreach teams.

Christine Crossley, director of the Office of Homeless Solutions, echoed Khan’s emphasis on aligning funding and said the city, county and private partners have “aligned the street to home dollars this year to help hold at bay spikes in unsheltered homelessness.” Crossley noted the city uses both point‑in‑time counts and year‑round inflow/outcome tracking; staff said the point‑in‑time count referenced in the presentation was conducted on Jan. 25 and that an expanded annual report would be released soon.

Khan and Crossley briefed the committee on a separate planning issue raised at a prior meeting involving the Saint Jude Oak Cliff permanent supportive housing project. Khan summarized the three elements required to create permanent supportive housing: a housing unit (capital or private market unit), rental assistance (subsidies) and supportive services. She said the continuum of care applied for supportive‑services funding that was conditioned on project‑based vouchers from the local housing authority, but the housing authority recently reached a “shortfall” and was directed by HUD not to issue additional vouchers while it balances budget authority. Khan said Housing Forward, the city and Catholic Charities are pursuing either a HUD exception for previously committed projects or county project‑based voucher options under an upcoming county RFP.

Committee members pressed for more granular monthly data on inflow, HMIS participation and recidivism. Daniel Roby, who handles system data, said the inclement‑weather shelter totals cover multiple weeks and therefore exceed a single‑night point‑in‑time count; he and staff offered to deliver the inclement‑weather and month‑by‑month HMIS metrics requested by council members.

Council members also raised concerns that reductions downtown had simply displaced people to other parts of the city. Khan and Crossley said the Street to Home model aims to pair public‑space management with immediate outreach and housing offers, but they acknowledged gaps where people remain unsheltered and reiterated that sustaining an end to concentrated street homelessness requires ongoing regional funding and capacity to house people exiting shelter.

The presentation closed with a commitment to model the resource needs for a 2026 phase focused on maintaining an effective end to street homelessness downtown while expanding the approach to other high‑priority locations and continuing systemwide investments in diversion and rehousing.","City and Housing Forward officials told the Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee that diversion and rehousing efforts have reduced homelessness since 2021, but rising inflow, funding gaps and voucher limits threaten recent progress.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Council committee to ratify late inclement‑weather shelter invoices; providers reported delayed reimbursement

City realigns street response under emergency management, outlines hot‑spot and closure maintenance strategy

City and nonprofit leaders cite housing gains since 2021 but warn resources are strained