Austin Pilot Program Aims to Serve the Homeless Without Police Involvement

A Service Approach to Homelessness and Public Safety

Shelley Davis, familiarly known as “L.D.,” spends his days navigating the streets of downtown Austin. He checks on those experiencing homelessness, often greeting them in a friendly manner and offering them cigarettes or lunches when he can. His engagement comes with some critical queries; he inquires if they have a case manager, discusses the possibility of entering a shelter, or asks about their housing assessment progress.

Davis is an integral part of the Homeless Engagement Assistance Response Team (HEART), a pilot project in Austin that seeks a humanitarian approach to homelessness issues without involving law enforcement. Funded by the Downtown Austin Alliance and managed by Urban Alchemy, HEART commenced operations back in February and is slated to continue until July’s end.

Building Trust Through Engagement

Two outreach workers and a dispatcher make up the HEART team responsible for responding to non-emergency calls within a designated service area in downtown Austin. The team also takes on proactive roles when not responding to calls, conducting patrols, and establishing relationships with the homeless population in the area.

Kirkpatrick Tyler, Director of Community and Government Affairs at Urban Alchemy, hails HEART as a progressive approach to public safety — an alternative to conventional policing methods. The initiative is an extension of Urban Alchemy’s homeless assistance programs in Austin, which include an outreach team, the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, and the Eighth Street Shelter.

Trials and Challenges

While the program has received appreciation from local residents and businesses, it also faced criticism due to previous accusations leveled against Urban Alchemy of alleged drug distribution and sexual misconduct in California. Responding to these concerns, Urban Alchemy’s Chief Operations Officer, Bayron Wilson, assured that all claims of misconduct are taken seriously, standing firm on the positive impact their work has had in downtown Austin.

Result-wise, the program has yielded modest outcomes in its first two months of operation, enabling 25 people to enter a shelter and assisting 10 individuals with completing their housing assessments. The process of building trust, as reiterated by both the Downtown Austin Alliance and Urban Alchemy, is deemed time-consuming but crucial. It often takes multiple engagements with the same person to develop enough trust for them to accept the help offered.

Negotiating Public Safety with Humanitarian Service

One challenge the HEART team faces is striking a balance between enforcement and providing social services. To prevent situations from escalating to a point where law enforcement may need to step in, HEART team members might have to mediate between downtown business owners and those experiencing homelessness. This could involve asking an individual to leave a particular location or diverting him or her towards homeless services.

Louie Hammonds, Urban Alchemy’s director of community-based public safety, asserts that it’s possible to juggle both aspects. He likens the relationship between an outreach worker and a person experiencing homelessness to a bank account, where building relationships, or “making deposits”, happens when workers provide lunches or other forms of assistance. Subsequently, when a potentially disruptive situation occurs, such as asking someone to move from a business doorway, the worker “withdraws” from the already established relationship to manage the situation.

The Road Ahead

As HEART continues its operations, grappling with the complicated realities of homelessness in Austin remains a high priority. The program’s effectiveness will be evaluated over time, with its proponents hoping it serves as a viable model for cities grappling with homelessness issues in a compassionate way. As the pilot program concludes its run in July, the future of this unique approach to homelessness and public safety hangs in the balance.