Revising Pathways Home: New State Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness in Texas
In 2012 the Texas Interagency Council for the Homeless (TICH) published Texas’ first state strategic plan to address homelessness called Pathways Home: A Framework for Coordinating State Administered Programs with Continuum of Care Planning to Address Homelessness in Texas (PDF). TICH identified a need to revise Pathways Home in 2021 to develop an updated framework that is better suited to prevent and end homelessness in Texas (the Plan). These revisions may include, but are not limited to, recommendations recognizing changes to the delivery of mainstream and targeted homeless services, changes within the state and federal policy environment surrounding homelessness, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on homeless response efforts
Prioritization of a more comprehensive range of actionable steps needed to ensure Texans enter and remain in safe and decent housing is expected to be included in the Plan.
Feedback
TICH staff is currently leveraging five avenues of feedback to inform the Plan. These measures include:
- A survey sent via Survey Monkey to glean feedback from TICH and non-TICH respondents focused on assessing adherence to the recommendation framework set forth in Pathways Home;
- At least one, but no more than three workgroup meetings composed of TICH members and advisory members focused on discussing updates for each of the three categories contained in the report: Affordable Housing and Supportive Services; Homelessness Prevention; and Data, Research, and Analysis;
- Three virtual roundtables to inform the first draft of the Plan held for each of the three aforementioned categories, which are designed to collect input from non-TICH stakeholders involved in the homeless response system in Texas (more details can be found below under the “Virtual Roundtables” header);
- Organizational informational interviews held to consolidate in-depth feedback from homeless service providers and advocacy groups across the state using a semi-structured interview format;
- In-person public hearing to be held across the state upon publication of the first draft to collect public comment that will inform the second draft.
Virtual Roundtables
TICH is seeking stakeholder feedback through a series of virtual roundtables in order to inform its efforts when compiling an updated State Plan to Address Homelessness (the Plan). The purpose of these virtual roundtables is to consolidate feedback from state agencies, service providers, and other interested members of the public to inform the recommendation framework of the Plan. Each session will cover different thematic areas, as detailed below, and will be held remotely using GoToWebinar video conferencing software. If interested in joining one or more virtual roundtable sessions, please register via the GoToWebinar registration links listed below. Details regarding the virtual roundtables are as follows:
Virtual Roundtable Session 1: Affordable Housing and Supportive Services
Date and Time: Tuesday, June 7, 2022, 10 to 11:30 a.m., Austin local time
Description: Focus on identifying opportunities for increasing housing options and providing tailored supportive services for homeless individuals and families who face multiple barriers to secure stable housing. Cross-disciplinary discussions focused on addressing disparities across subpopulations and COVID-19 pandemic response efforts in the context of affordable housing and supportive service provisions will be encouraged.
The GoToWebinar recording and transcript for this roundtable can be accessed here (GoToStage.com). Written feedback provided by participants during this roundtable can be accessed here (PDF).
Virtual Roundtable Session 2: Homelessness Prevention
Date and Time: Tuesday, June 28, 2022, 10 to 11:30 a.m., Austin local time
Description: Focus on strategies that identify individuals and families at-risk of homelessness in order to connect them with appropriate preventive resources. Cross-disciplinary discussions focused on addressing disparities across subpopulations and COVID-19 pandemic response efforts in the context of homelessness prevention provisions will be encouraged.
The GoToWebinar recording and transcript for this roundtable can be accessed here (GoToStage.com). Written feedback provided by participants during this roundtable can be accessed here (PDF).
Virtual Roundtable Session 3: Data, Research, and Analysis
Date and Time: Tuesday, July 19, 2022, 10 to 11:30 a.m., Austin local time
Description: Focus on strategies to improve the systematic collection, analysis, and reporting of precise homelessness data metrics. Cross-disciplinary discussions focused on addressing disparities across subpopulations and COVID-19 pandemic response efforts in the data collection, analysis, and reporting will be encouraged.
The GoToWebinar recording and transcript for this roundtable can be accessed here (GoToStage.com). Written feedback provided by participants during this roundtable can be accessed here (PDF).
More Information
More information on TICH may be found at https://www.tdhca.state.tx.us/tich/index.htm.
For questions and additional information, please contact Sean Lonergan, Homeless Policy Advisor at sean.lonergan@tdhca.state.tx.us or (512) 475-3892.
