Homeless in Austin

Homelessness in Downtown Austin

From 2008 to my retirement in July of 2020, I worked for a company based in San Francisco and traveled there frequently.  San Francisco has been a haven for the homeless forever, but the change in the 13 years that I traveled there regularly was remarkable.    About 18 months ago on a trip where I stayed in downtown San Francisco, I had the experience of stepping over human feces on a sidewalk storm grate, and then the next morning in a cab on the way to the airport, I watched a man drop his trousers, squat and defecate into a curbside storm drain.  I wrote a letter to San Francisco Mayor London Breed, and copied it with a note to Austin Mayor Steve Adler.  I communicated my experience to Mayor Breed and implored Mayor Adler not to follow what San Francisco had done.  I got a response from Mayor Breed, nothing from Mayor Adler.   A few months later, Austin City Council changed the ordinance on camping and loitering, moving exactly in the direction that San Francisco and other large cities on the west coast have gone.   

I was born and grew up in Austin, and I have been back in the Austin area since 1989.  In 2017, my wife and I moved to downtown Austin.   Since we moved downtown, the homeless problem has exploded, largely driven by the vagrancy ordinance change in June 2019.  While the problem is acute in the downtown area, it has spread all over Austin from East Riverside Drive to North US 183.  It is obvious that the change in the ordinance in 2019 has worsened the problems of drug use, property damage and trash accumulation, aggressive panhandling and crime in areas where the homeless have congregated.  In the fall of 2019, I met a colleague at the outdoor bistro at the JW Marriott.  We were approached while in the bistro by an individual asking for money, and then later as I walked from there east on 2^nd street, I was approached three more times, once aggressively.   I have called 911 three times due to incidents involving homeless individuals in our neighborhood since 2017.    I also called 311 several times, but I don’t do that anymore – calling 311 (or using the app) is useless.  

So why did the Austin City Council change the vagrancy ordinance?  Austin and other cities are aware of a handful of cases (e.g. Martin v. City of Boise) where courts have decided that you cannot prohibit lying, sitting or camping in public places if homeless individuals have no other place to go.   That has also driven the Austin City Council to look for alternatives to shelter homeless individuals.  In the meantime, Austin spends about $60 million dollars a year on support for the homeless through multiple intermediaries from Front Steps (manages the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless) to Mobile Loaves and Fishes (manages Community First! Village).   A very few people have been moved into temporary and permanent housing, while the homeless problem continues to grow.  This is because the City of Austin is not addressing the causes of homelessness. I also would argue that current policies attract homeless individuals from other areas.  This has been an obvious result of similar policies in places like San Francisco.

Various advocacy groups who have surveyed the homeless population say that there are three primary causes for homelessness:  lack of affordable housing, substance addiction and mental illness.  I would argue that there is a fourth reason driving the current crisis – habitual criminal behavior.   Over 25 years ago, the State of Texas embarked on prison reform, allowing courts to reduce sentences for state jail felonies and increased probation and community supervision.  Many people arrested for drug and property crimes serve their sentences waiting for disposition of their cases, and then are released.  They serve just long enough to lose their jobs and their qualification for jobs, and then end up back out on the streets.  Without a job or income, affordable housing is hard to come by.  And for this population the re-arrest rate is over 60%, and that is based on the ones who get caught.  That is why I categorize them as habitual criminals.

Mayor Adler has cited a survey that stated that only about 30% of the homeless population suffered from substance addiction or mental illness.  The number is likely much higher.  Consider that no one in their right mind would live under the 6^th Street IH 35 overpass.   Then you have the population of habitual criminals.  Finally, you have a minority population who is temporarily displaced, certainly made worse by the 2020 pandemic.  All of these have the issue of lack of affordable housing, generally compounded by lack of family support.

How is crime associated with homelessness?  Unfortunately, mental illness (including intellectual disability) and substance addiction are intertwined.  Mental illness and substance addiction are also highly prevalent in the habitual criminal population.  The need to access illegal drugs drives property crime, property crime needs organized criminals to move merchandise, and of course drug dealers prey on the homeless population.  Austin has always had an illegal drug problem, primarily because of Interstate 35.  The homeless problem has just made it worse.  

You can’t address the homeless problem without addressing the root causes.  You also can’t wait for someone with a serious mental illness or substance addiction to ask for help.  More than likely they will not.  Providing the homeless with tents, sleeping bags, camping equipment and bicycles does not address the root causes, it only prolongs the problems.  Austin will have to provide intervention for mental illness and substance addiction.  For these interventions to be successful, Austin will need to move the homeless away from access to drugs, basically away from the highway underpasses where many of them live.   This also means moving the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless from downtown.

Housing the homeless population requires a combination of temporary and permanent housing.  Temporarily displaced individuals may only need temporary financial support, others may need a place to stay, like the ARCH.  On the other end of the spectrum, about 30% of people with serious mental illness and intellectual disability may not be able to live independently and will need permanent housing and support.  This should be addressed by the state and federal government, not cities like Austin.  Everyone else may need temporary housing while they receive mental health and substance abuse treatment, or participate in job training and placement programs.

So, let me be honest.  The reason for this blog topic is not to improve the quality of life for the Austin homeless population.  The reason for this essay is to offer solutions to improve the quality of life and safety for people who live in Downtown Austin.  If we are going to do that, we have to be aggressive in our approach to the homeless problem.  Location and activities would be restricted, intervention would be mandatory, and compliance with case management necessary to continue access to services.  You are not going to find affordable housing in Downtown Austin, so why would you attempt to support the homeless there?   We cannot indefinitely support people with substance addiction and serious mental illness waiting for them to ask for help.   And we must require that they participate in treatment programs in order to continue to receive housing and economic support.  Here is an outline of how it might work.

1. Create safe, drug-free and solicitation free zones in entertainment, hotel and high-density residential areas of Austin.
   • Downtown Austin
   • South Congress from downtown to Ben White Boulevard
   • The Arboretum
   • The Domain
   • The University of Texas campus (including major event facilities)
   • City of Austin parks and hike and bike trails
   • Major event facilities (Circuit of the Americas, MLS stadium, etc.)
2. Prohibit panhandling, camping, loitering, and solicitation within ¼ mile of solicitation free zones.  Exceptions to prohibition of solicitation should require permits under the Right of Way ordinance.  Permits should not be required for musicians, performance artists or other artistic talents who do not directly solicit payment for their activities.
3. Move the ARCH from downtown and relocate outside of any solicitation free zone.
4. Require 911 operators to allow the caller to decide whether they require immediate assistance on any call relating to prohibited solicitation activities.
5. Provide a first-offense warning for panhandling, camping, loitering and solicitation offenses in prohibited zones.
6. Second offense in a prohibited zone should result in mandatory detention, drug and mental health screening – these are drug-free zones.
7. If drug testing reveals proximate use of Schedule 1 drugs (except marijuana), charges of public intoxication and/or diversion of a controlled substance should be filed.
8. If drug testing reveals proximate use of Schedule 2, 3 or 4 drugs and a valid prescription cannot be provided, charges should be filed (it should be illegal to buy, possess or consume Schedule 2, 3 and 4 drugs without a prescription in the city of Austin – diversion of a controlled substance is a state jail felony).
9. Drug related offenses in the prohibited zones should result in mandatory substance abuse treatment referral.
10. Individuals who are found to have untreated serious mental illness after detention for offenses in prohibited zones should be referred for mental health treatment.
11. Individuals who fail to comply with referrals for substance abuse or mental health treatment should be barred from receiving City of Austin social services.
12. Create a plan for managing the homeless population
13. The City of Austin should discontinue funding any services for homeless individuals that do not include case management.
14. There should be a reasonable annual budget or cap on provision of services under case management.
15. The City of Austin should discontinue funding for any programs which assist individuals to remain homeless, including tents, mattresses, camping supplies, or sleeping bags.  Blankets, clothing and personal items should be provided as part of short-term case management or included in temporary housing arrangements.
16. There should be a reasonable annual budget or cap on the provision of temporary* housing services.
17. Case management should place a priority on finding temporary housing with relatives, whether in Austin or elsewhere. 
18. Temporary housing arrangements should prohibit unlawful activities (including illegal drug use) and should mandate alcohol or substance abuse treatment, and/or mental health treatment if recommended by case management. 
19. Temporary housing arrangements should require full compliance with any correctional system probation conditions (including drug testing).
20. Individuals who violate requirements for temporary housing arrangements should be discharged from temporary housing and barred from receiving social services from the City of Austin.
21. Individuals who receive disability payments or have other sources of income should pay on a sliding scale for temporary housing arrangements.

*Permanent housing for homeless individuals should be the responsibility of the state and/or federal government.

Implementation of an aggressive program to reduce the homeless population will make Austin safer for everyone, including those who start out homeless.  It may also discourage migration to Austin of individuals who are not looking for resolution of their homelessness.  It will require the City of Austin to spend money on treatment programs, job training and real temporary housing.