City Council meets today, March 12, to conduct its regular business, despite the flurry of coronavirus-related news activity that has dominated Austin over the last week. Speaking of which, on the agenda will be an Item extending for another 30 days the local disaster declaration Mayor Steve Adler made on Friday, March 6. The extended declaration will allow Adler and interim Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe to continue screening some mass gatherings in the area for potential cancellation should they not meet certain requirements (see “New Rules on Mass Gatherings in Austin“). Council is also set to extend the appointment of Dr. Mark Escott as the city’s interim health authority (and designate Jason R. Pickett as alternate health authority) through Sept. 30. Escott will continue serving as the lead coordinator and public face of the joint Austin and Travis County response to the virus.
The meeting agenda features a couple of Items related to homelessness; one would amend an existing agreement between the city and Catholic Charities of Central Texas to provide housing stability services to families at risk, in an amount not to exceed $250,000. There’s also a resolution exploring ways for permanent supportive housing (PSH) and rapid rehousing (RRH) to be better integrated into the strategy to end homelessness in Austin; it directs City Manager Spencer Cronk to explore how RRH – which refers to services to keep those who suddenly lose housing from falling into long-term homelessness – can be utilized to help people currently seeking both short-term and long-term assistance. Cronk would be directed to modify the coordinated entry system, which tracks everyone seeking assistance from providers working to end homelessness in our community to identify households whose homelessness can be “permanently ended by short-term, time-limited financial assistance and case management services, generally lasting no less than three months and no more than two years.”
At the same time, Cronk would be directed to find additional funding for PSH services – which are central to the motel strategy the city is jointly pursuing with the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition. The funding should pay for “case management, wrap-around services and financial support for rental and other needs,” per the resolution language, for both PSH and RRH services. Finally, Cronk will be asked to conduct a feasibility study on a new city program that would use housing vouchers for a spectrum of people exiting homelessness – those who need short-term housing assistance but not PSH services, but also those who were unable to stabilize with RRH alone and may need more extensive help. Cronk is to report back to Council with his findings when he delivers the FY 2021 budget in July.
Oh, and did you hear that some Council members are seeking new elected offices? Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza is in the Democratic primary run-off for Travis County Attorney against Laurie Eiserloh (the winner will not face a GOP opponent in November), and District 4 CM Greg Casar is expected to announce a bid for state Senate District 14 any day now (for more on that race, see below), so Council will meet in executive session to discuss how those potential vacancies would be filled should they open up after the (likely) May 2 SD-14 special election and May 26 primary run-off.
Health and Home
A version of this article appeared in print on Mar 13, 2020 with the headline: Health and Home
This article appears in March 13 • 2020.