This survey is conducted annually and involves collecting
data from agencies that serve homeless persons on the average number
of persons they serve per day, their characteristics and their service
needs. In 2001, this survey was conducted in March. Responses were
received from the major shelter and service providers in Austin/Travis
County. Data from homeless agencies do not fully reflect the local
homeless population, however, because not all homeless persons use
available services. Some homeless adults, youth, and families are
unable to benefit from services because of limited space. To account
for this population, the survey data are adjusted by adding estimates
of the homeless population not currently receiving services. These
estimates are based on data from agencies that conduct outreach
to homeless persons living on the street and from shelters and based
on the number of people service providers turn away per day and
are unable to serve because of lack of capacity.
The charts below show the gap between the current inventory and
the estimated need for housing and for supportive services. The
"Estimated Need" reflects the estimated number of homeless
individuals needing the housing or service listed on any given
day. This number includes homeless persons currently receiving
services, and those not receiving services. The "Current
Inventory" column reflects the number of beds or service
"slots" designated for homeless persons only on any
given day. The difference between these two numbers is the unmet
need.
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Chart 4.
Estimated Need vs. Current Capacity of Emergency Shelter
and Housing Beds in Austin
|
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Chart 5.
Estimated Need vs. Current Inventory of Supportive Services
in Austin
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Based on the data reported above, the Homeless Task Force identified
the following areas as critical gaps in the local continuum of
care:
EMERGENCY SHELTER
In the past several years, the need for emergency shelter for
homeless persons has been widely discussed in Austin and Travis
County. Emergency shelter is the first point of entry into services
for homeless persons and, therefore, an important step in helping
people access the services they need to exit homelessness.
Each sub-population of homeless individuals has different needs
in emergency shelters. In Austin/Travis County, several shelters
exist to meet the various needs of each sub-population. Homeless
youth have few shelter resources. As a result, many of these youth
live on the streets or in camps. The number of beds for homeless
single men and women is also inadequate. This shortage is exacerbated
because some beds are reserved for homeless people with specific
needs.
In Austin/Travis County, homeless families with children have
many resources. However, despite over 200 shelter beds for this
population, as many as 3,000 homeless women and children are turned
away from shelter each year because of a lack of capacity (1999
Austin/Travis County Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grant).
When homeless families seek shelter, many have already exhausted
all their other resources (for example, friends and family). Unfortunately,
family shelter have a four to six week waiting list and many families
end up sleeping wherever they can (in cars, in camps, in motels)
(Shinn, et al, 1996).
Fortunately, the needs for emergency shelter among homeless men,
women and children is in the process of being addressed. New shelters
are being developed for each of these populations. These activities
are discussed in greater detail in the section IX of this assessment.
Yet, even with these resources, the need for emergency shelter
will not be fully met. The backlog in demand for shelter among
homeless families means that many will still have to wait for
assistance.
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TRANSITIONAL HOUSING
Transitional Housing is temporary housing augmented with supportive
services. It is designed to be a step between emergency shelter
and permanent housing.
Until recently, Austin had a relatively large supply of transitional
housing for families. In the past few years, however, many of
these units have been lost because of insufficient funding for
maintenance and operations. The largest single transitional housing
complex for families was sold in November 2000 because it was
too expensive to repair. Most recently, 16 homes that had been
purchased specifically for homeless transitional housing were
sold for use as Section 8 housing.
The decrease in the number of transitional housing units is especially
grave given the overall lack of affordable housing in Austin.
For many homeless families, transitional housing serves as their
only bridge to self-sufficiency. The six to twenty-four months
that families live in transitional housing gives them time to
save money for housing in the open market, or to secure subsidized
housing. Without this resource, many homeless families are likely
to become homelessness again.
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PERMANENT AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The lack of affordable housing in Austin and Travis County has
been well documented. The degree to which it impacts the local
continuum of care is important to note. The lack of affordable
housing prevents homeless adults, families and youth who are leaving
shelter or transitional housing from becoming independent. Furthermore,
the lack of affordable housing creates a backlog in service delivery,
preventing many persons on the streets from obtaining even the
most basic shelter services.
The continuum of care model provides a series of steps to move
from homelessness into permanent housing. Since permanent housing
is the final step in the continuum, if it is not available, bottlenecks
occur.
One type of permanent housing is SRO units, consisting of one
room with private or shared bathrooms and kitchen facilities.
The primary resource for this type of housing, however, no longer
exists. Many men with limited resources and job skills lived in
SROs. SRO housing offered few amenities, but were inexpensive
-- affordable even to persons on fixed incomes and persons with
disabilities. In the 1970s and 80s however, an estimated one million
units of SRO housing was demolished in the name of urban renewal.
(Dolbeare, 1996). With no alternatives, many of those people who
were housed in SROs became homeless.
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SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICES
Despite increased funding over the last few years, substance
abuse treatment for homeless persons continues to be limited.
As indicated by the Gaps Analysis table, approximately 1,550 homeless
persons need substance abuse treatment on any given day, yet there
are only 263 treatment slots available. Because of this shortage,
many homeless persons cannot receive treatment at the time they
request it. This often leaves those people seeking treatment discouraged
and therefore reluctant to return to seek treatment.
Inpatient/outpatient services, follow-up and relapse prevention
services are also lacking in the area of substance abuse treatment.
Many chronic substance abusers also require follow-up residential
and intensive outpatient treatment in order to maintain their
sobriety (CAN, 2001). Follow up treatment is especially important
for homeless persons who have long histories of substance. Unfortunately,
these services are expensive and limited.
In addition, Austin's high housing costs make it difficult for
persons exiting from treatment to obtain stable housing. Research
done by Oakely and Dennis in 1996 shows that housing stability
is critical to successful recovery from addiction. Combining housing
with supportive services can help many recovering addicts achieve
independence, stability and permanent housing. Without access
to housing after treatment, homeless persons are forced to return
to their prior environments.
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MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Many mentally ill homeless people are unable to obtain access
to mental health services they need because of a lack of resources.
Currently, only 135 units of supportive housing in Travis County
available to the estimated 509 homeless persons with mental illness.
Nonresidential mental health care is even more limited in availability.
Most mental health care in Travis County is provided by Austin/Travis
County MHMR (ATCMHMR). However, this agency is financially limited
to serving only the most seriously mentally ill persons. Homeless
individuals with depression, anxiety or other less serious disorders
have fewer services available to them.
Even the mental health services provided by Austin Travis County
MHMR are becoming more limited as a result of the loss of federal
and state funds. ATC MHMR's ACCESS program, which provided outreach
and services to chronically homeless mentally ill persons living
on the streets, is slowly being phased out in 2001. The loss of
this program means that approximately 1200 homeless individuals
per year will not receive even the most basic services. Many of
these individuals live on the streets and are the most vulnerable
of all of Austin's homeless - victims of crime, fearful or mistrusting
of service providers and unable to use available shelters because
of their behavior or habits.
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JOB TRAINING AND PLACEMENT AND CHILD CARE
Homeless persons with limited job experience, limited reading
skills, or limited knowledge of the expectations and requirements
of full time employment have difficulty securing employment. "Mainstream"
providers that also serve the general public provide job training
and placement services available to homeless persons. The Capital
Area Workforce Development Centers are the primary source of such
services. Homeless individuals may feel overwhelmed by the computerized
job listings, the application forms, and the job fairs. For individuals
who have lived on the street for a long time, or have a long history
of working day labor and temporary jobs, a more basic job readiness
service is needed to prepare them for Workforce Center programs.
For homeless families with children, a significant barrier to
employment is childcare. In a study of ten U.S. cities, 41% of
homeless families cited the lack of childcare or pregnancy as
the reason they could not work (Homes for the Homeless, 1999).
Furthermore, young homeless mothers may also have limited basic
job skills and experience and require additional training in order
to obtain employment that will pay a living wage. With many homeless
families facing deadlines under the new Welfare to Work requirements,
the situation may only get worse. Once Welfare to Work benefits
expire, parents are left without subsidies to help pay for child
care, and - in most cases - jobs that barely cover their housing
costs.
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B. What is Being Spent?
Within homeless services, an annual survey is conducted to determine
which funding sources agencies have. The survey is conducted as
part of the Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grant consolidated
application. This is the most comprehensive assessment of the
community's investment in the homeless service arena.
Table 6 and 7 below provide a list of funds available or anticipated
to be available for homeless services in Travis County in 2001.
Table 6 outlines expenditures by CAN partners with homeless service
programs. The City of Austin, Travis County, United Way contribute
more than $8 million per year for homeless prevention and housing
and supportive services for homeless persons. The City of Austin
and Travis County together spend over $6.8 million to purchase
social services to assist the homeless. The City has also committed
to substantially increase its investment in homeless services
under the Homeless Initiative.
Table 6.
Homeless Investments in Travis County by CAN Partners, 2001*
|
|
CAN Funding Agencies
|
Annual
Expenditures
|
Percent
|
|
City of Austin
|
$5,113,253
|
59%
|
|
Austin and Travis County Joint Social Service
Contracts
|
$2,154,217
|
25%
|
|
Travis County Direct Services
|
$774,504
|
9%
|
|
United Way/ Capital Area
|
$630,625/3.2 mil?
|
7%
|
| TOTAL |
$8,672,653
|
100%
|
In addition to spending by CAN partners, other local and state
agencies spend millions of dollars on homeless services for Austin/Travis
County (see Table 7). When added together, over $26 million is
being spent every year on homeless services for the local area.
Table 7.
Homeless Investments in Travis County by Selected Major Investors,
2001*
|
|
CAN Funding Agencies
|
Annual
Expenditures
|
Percent
|
|
State
|
$1,021,690
|
7%
|
Federal (Grants to the City of Austin-see
Appendix H for breakdown) |
$14 million
|
87%
|
|
Faith-Based Organizations
|
$151,000
|
1%
|
|
Foundations
|
$139,979
|
1%
|
|
Individual Donations through Electric or
Gas Utility
|
$619,961
|
4%
|
| TOTAL |
$15,932,630 |
100% |
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Note: The 2001 period represents varying fiscal calendars.
*Most agencies collect information by type
of service provided, not by population served. Services
for homeless are often combined with services for the total
population. Thus, the information provided here does not
provide the complete picture.
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