Austin Approves $100M To Address Homelessness

AUSTIN, TX — Austin City Council approved $100 million from the American Rescue Plan to help address the city's homeless.

The city approved the funds for its homeless plan in Thursday's council meeting. The historic investment will help provide housing, mental health care, job aid and will "drastically reduce" homelessness in the city.

Other big ticket items approved in Thursday's council meeting were $42 million towards rental assistance, $11 million in childcare support, $21 million in workforce development, $12 million in arts and music and $46 million in community health.

The plan to house 3,000 people requires the $100 million in city funding, plus similar funding amounts from other levels of government and philanthropy, authorities said.

Officials said multiple studies have shown investments like this one will help reduce public costs by solving homelessness rather than paying for it in jails and hospital stays.

“This is how we finally do something real about homelessness, rather than just moving encampments around from one part of the city to another,” said Austin City Council Member Greg Casar. “It’s the moral thing to do, it’s the effective thing to do, and it’s the more fiscally responsible thing to do compared to paying for more jail and hospital beds."

Casar said the city's approval of these fund is the "most significant step our city has ever taken in this direction."

" I am deeply grateful to my colleagues on the City Council and the Mayor for working together on this for several months leading up to today,” Casar said.

The approval of funds comes a month after the city voted to pass proposition B, which makes it a criminal offense — a Class-C misdemeanor punishable by a fine — if you sit, lie down, or camp on public property. It also prohibits panhandling at specific hours and locations.

When the proposition took effect on May 11, the city of Austin announced a four phased plan on how the city will enforce the new city ordinance.