CFTH Presents What's Next for Houston's Response to Homelessness

Thank you to our speakers and everyone who attended!

On Tuesday, November 12th, we hosted another installment of CFTH Presents focusing on the pragmatic strategies and partnerships that will be part of the next phase of work addressing homelessness in Houston. During this event we heard insights from community stakeholders regarding what this work will look like, shared goals and what is needed to get there.

Watch the full panel presentation below.

Our featured speakers:

Mike Lykes, Chief of Staff - Harris County Pct. 2 County Commissioner Adrian Garcia
Mike Nichols, Director - City of Houston Housing and Community Development Department
Larry Satterwhite, Director - Public Safety and Homeland Security for the City of Houston
Kelly Young, President and CEO - CFTH

To learn more about these events visit the CFTH Presents website.

See below the answers to additional audience questions we were unable to answer during the event due to time.

How will the $70M to fund this work be raised, what will it be used for, and what is the sustainability plan for housing programs as ARPA funding expires, particularly in relation to supporting at-risk homeless youth and individuals fleeing domestic violence?

The $70M will be raised through a strategic combination of city, county, and philanthropic funding. The long-term plan involves establishing a state-funded homeless authority or identifying a local funding mechanism that can serve as a sustainable source of funding, enabling us to expand and enhance our efforts beyond our current scope.

These funds will support outreach efforts, rapid rehousing, and diversion projects based on system modeling to serve anyone at risk or experiencing homelessness. Additionally, the funding will support targeted initiatives as identified by the community to address emerging needs and priorities.

What data metrics will be used to measure success, and will eviction rates be included?

Once sustainable and flexible funding is secured, a comprehensive community plan will be developed to define the desired outcomes and establish the data metrics necessary to measure success. These metrics could be modeled after the current data collection requirements set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for federal funding.

With unrestricted funding, we would have the flexibility to exercise local control over the data we collect and the metrics we use to evaluate success, which could include tracking eviction rates and other relevant indicators.

Please note that questions have been combined/edited for clarity and conciseness purposes.

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