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Motion of the Council of Allegheny County urging the Chief Executive and Department of Human Services, in cooperation with the City of Pittsburgh and the nonprofit, unhoused persons, medical, business, and other communities, to explore how aspects of the model for delivery of services to unhoused persons in Houston, TX might be successfully carried over to Allegheny County.
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Whereas, on June 15, 2023, Allegheny County Council held a public hearing in which the closure of Smithfield Shelter and the delivery of shelter and other services to unhoused persons in Allegheny County was discussed in depth; and
Whereas, in listening to the testimony provided by a multitude of individuals and business entities, a recurring theme of the desirability of a multifaceted, cooperative approach to the delivery of adequate shelter, housing, and other services to this population; and
Whereas, on June 9, 2023, CNN published a brief overview of the progress that Houston, TX has made in a similar endeavor; and
Whereas, after Houston came to have one of the largest unhoused populations in the country in 2011, the city’s collaborative approach with other units of government and various stakeholder communities has housed more than 28,000 individuals, which has decreased their unhoused population approximately 60% from 2012-23; and
Whereas, in order to accomplish this result, the City of Houston created a collaborative system aligned around a standardized set of practices, goals, and strategies; at present, over 100 entities combine their efforts and resources; and
Whereas, the Houston group created a centralized database to track unhoused individuals and their specific needs, and developed a standardized assessment to determine what housing and/or service interventions best suit the needs of each person. They also adopted a strategy focused on getting individuals and families out of the cycle of being unhoused by addressing mental health or substance abuse counseling, ...
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