Colleagues,
Tomorrow, I plan to offer an amendment to item 34, concerning the extension of operations at the Marshalling Yard. These proposed changes strike a balance of providing important shelter beds for our unhoused population to access with the need to invest in housing solutions. As we saw this week, our resources are increasingly limited, and I believe we must focus our investments on programs that achieve the most positive outcomes for the most people.
While we have seen positive improvements at the Marshalling Yard, the positive exits are still far below that of other programs. Just as you wouldn’t design a hospital system for patients to have a prolonged stay in the emergency room we have to have a system that allows for individuals to move quickly from emergency shelter to housing. Otherwise, we are stuck spending on the most expensive type of intervention with the lowest positive results.
With that in mind, I plan to offer the amendment below that does the following:
- Extends the operation of the Marshalling Yard to Nov. 30, 2024, instead of March 31, 2025;
- Authorizes any unspent funds under the contract to be used to funding housing for clients at the Marshalling Yard; and
- States a ramp down plan shall be presented to the Public Health Committee with regular updates.
I look forward to our discussion tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Ryan
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 180628.pdf