City of Austin ramps up approach to homeless encampment cleanups; advocates push back

Advocates oppose city's encampment cleanup program

The City of Austin is ramping up its approach to homeless encampment cleanups, but the plan is already sparking backlash from homeless advocates.

AUSTIN, Texas - The City of Austin is ramping up its approach to homeless encampment cleanups, but the plan is already sparking backlash from homeless advocates.

The new effort is expected to launch in May, but some advocates are pushing back and calling for a pause.

What they're saying:

The city said it receives 775 Austin 311 calls each month related to homeless encampments, along with hundreds of follow-ups.

"Every single week, someone somewhere in our city contacts me and says, what can I do about this encampment which is threatening either my home or my business?," said Matt Mackowiak, co-founder, Save Austin Now.

In May 2021, Austin voters approved Prop B  making public camping a misdemeanor. Shortly after, the state followed suit making banning public camping across Texas.

"Encampments are bad for the environment. They're bad for public safety. They're really unspeakably filthy and unsafe for the people that live there. And they affect people that are in the immediate area around those encampments. Those encampments oftentimes happen near schools, near parks, near shopping centers, near intersections, you name it," said Mackowiak.

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Vocal Texas raises concerns about how Austin handles homeless encampment cleanups

Homeless advocates are raising concerns about how the City of Austin is handling encampment cleanups.

The city says current operations only allow for periodic responses with staffing levels limiting consistent follow up. Officials say that leads to encampments returning to the same locations.

"There's nobody in the city from my staff or from APD that wants to take people's personal possessions. We're not trying to take people's medications or IDS or birth certificates or anything that you need for your day-to-day living," said David Gray, director, Austin homeless strategies and operation.

The city’s new encampment management expansion plan would create six teams working Monday through Friday. 

Three teams would be responsible for encampments in parks, greenbelts, and residential areas along with keep clear sites.

• One team would focus on major roadways and highway corridors.
• One team would cover waterways and flood-prone areas.
• One team be dedicated to post-cleanup litter to restore sites.

The other side:

But not everyone agrees.

"We've been hearing more of this lately where you're told you can pick up one bag and the rest of your belongings are thrown in the back of a garbage truck. Your IDS might be in there, your medications might be there, your survival gear to get through the night, sleeping bags, I mean, you name it, it might be the garbage," said Paulette Soltani, co-director, Vocal Texas.

Vocal Texas, a nonprofit who advocates for homeless people, is calling for the plans to be paused.

The group says that sweeps do nothing to solve homelessness, and further harm individuals and destabilize communities. It wants to work with the city to try and find other solutions to the sweeps.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Homeless advocates call encampment sweeps inhumane

Homeless advocates are raising concerns about how the City of Austin is handling encampment cleanups.

"It's a waste of resources and it doesn't actually help anyone. And I think that's the critical thing to remember from this plan is that. We're not going to solve homelessness. We're not going to get people off our streets if we just continue to displace them, ticket them, arrest them," said Soltani.

Concerns have also grown after a recent sweep along east Cesar Chavez. Vocal Texas saying the sweeps happened as some people were getting services or food.

"All of the evidence points to how ineffective encampment sweeps are. So, this is not the way to solve them. This is not to solve our housing crisis. This is the way not to help people," Soltani said.

What's next:

The Homeless Strategy Office is set to present this plan to city council on May 5 with advocates expected to be there voicing their concerns.