To approach an urgent social issue, The City of Austin has brought together experts from various government agencies to coordinate homeless camp management efforts and address urgent health and safety needs.

Housing is one of our most important human needs, some of which may be deprived or lost for social, economic or environmental reasons. In the natural scenario, it goes beyond his control and plunges him into the vortex of homelessness.

In the United States of America, Homeless people are called the “invisible category”, Although they represent alarming proportions in most cities, Many factors may contribute to their access to sidewalks, Such as family breakup, loss of insurance, overage of the social welfare system, mental illness or suffering from addiction. These situations are complemented by other, more entrenched factors such as inherited poverty, racism, the failure of the educational and criminal systems, and the complexities of obtaining and maintaining housing.

In the city of Austin, The capital of Travis County, The annual survey conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development shows that more than 2,500 homeless people sleep on the streets every night. Experts estimate the percentage of homeless people in the province at around 1%. A large part of them live in camps scattered across the city. which is not for a simple ratio, Especially since the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies has pointed to a severe crisis in housing costs, As a result of the inability of the average income and the real estate market to keep pace with the boom in land prices and population numbers.

As the COVID-19 pandemic begins, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that unprotected individuals be allowed to stay in place to stop the spread of the pandemic and to facilitate access to health providers. at that time City authorities have focused on removing waste around the camps, providing residents with food essentials, personal protective equipment (PPE), masks and gloves, and setting up toilets and personal hygiene cabins.

After the first year of the crisis, The city has launched an initiative to move camp residents to temporary housing until field teams remove tents that have become a felony punishable by state law. A committee of representatives of 15 government agencies has been developing recommendations to coordinate these efforts.

Whereas, the city government has allocated 84 million of its budget for 2023 to the issue of homelessness, It will invest 6% in a project targeting camps for displaced persons in public spaces.

Based on the Committee’s recommendations to develop a central response structure and develop a means of monitoring the reality of the camps, The project adopts a coordinated approach to produce effective results, It uses a new tool with geospatial visualization capabilities, It will help activists gather information for each camp, access to individuals facing health, hygiene and safety difficulties, Build channels of communication between those in need of assistance and the bodies that will provide them.

These efforts have led to the establishment of the Camp Management Group for Displaced Persons, It consists of 3 divisions along with a leadership council that sets goals, sets long-term strategies and gives its approval to priorities, response plans and processes proposed by the planning, operations and policy departments.

The Planning Section undertakes the close monitoring of displaced persons camps, It uses the tool developed to design future steps, Prioritizing health and safety and taking into account the side effects that may occur to infrastructure, property and the environment.

In light of these data, The Operations Section shall draw up operational plans, It identifies the necessary needs, commitments and resources, It carries out field work such as cleaning, removal and closure of camps.

Let these efforts take a city-wide structured form, The Policy Department designs protocols for work in light of the needs identified by the leadership team.

In conjunction with this, City authorities are working with technical developers to create a blockchain-powered digital ID. Provides the homeless with a secure means of storing their personal information such as official documents, social security numbers, criminal and medical records, And return to it when needed to obtain housing, employment, health care and other services.

In the standard scenario, Beneficiaries can upload their information to a digital platform, Let the application that plays the role of a “digital notary” validate them before encoding and saving them, It gives service providers access to only the information they need.

Austin has contributed more than $100 million to fund the “Home Insurance” initiative. It is part of the American Rescue Plan Act, It aims to create 1,300 affordable housing units to house 3,000 people by the end of 2024. The city has also made the goal of eradicating homelessness a top priority in its strategic plan, which identifies 5 key elements of this endeavor. Namely, awareness and shelter, Addressing social disparities, and the provision of housing and support services, strengthening the response system, Building community commitment in the public and private sectors.

This tool will provide a better understanding of the conditions, risks and needs in displacement camps. It is hoped that the project will achieve a reduction in the numbers of this group and a reduction in the severity of the risks to which they are exposed.

In turn, Digital archiving of personal records will enable both orderly and secure access to data and services, It will save a lot of cost, time and effort.

References:

• https://www.austintexas.gov/department/council-direction-and-policy
• https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/austin-launches-homeless-encampment-management-team-tool/632205/
• https://www.austintexas.gov/edims/pio/document.cfm?id=390749
• https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/cities-spend-millions-on-homeless-encampment-response/598460/
• https://www.austintexas.gov/page/learn-about-homelessness
• https://www.austinecho.org/about-echo/homelessness-in-austin/
• https://gcn.com/cybersecurity/2019/10/austin-helps-homeless-bridge-the-digital-divide/297762/