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Fort Worth proposes refocused homelessness spending and stronger camp cleanup enforcement after stakeholder review
Summary
City staff proposed refocusing Directions Home funding toward unsheltered homelessness, expanding street outreach and aligning a 17‑month high‑impact pilot for people with severe mental illness; staff said the city spent about $10.4 million on homelessness-related activities in FY24 and will issue an updated RFP in early 2025.
City staff told Fort Worth council on Jan. 14 they plan to realign portions of the city’s homeless services funding to prioritize unsheltered homelessness, increase street outreach, and expand rapid housing flow, while continuing interdepartmental enforcement and outreach to reduce public-health and public-safety impacts from encampments.
Nut graf: After meetings with nearly 300 stakeholders, city staff proposed changes to how Directions Home funds are allocated — prioritizing programs that directly affect unsheltered people and expanding support for a 17‑month “high‑impact” pilot that provides intensive psychiatric and housing support to unsheltered individuals with serious mental illness.
What the city presented: Staff reported FY24 city-directed homelessness spending of roughly $10.4 million across departments, with Directions Home accounting for about $6.3 million of that total. The city also identified roughly $31 million invested in permanent supportive housing (PSH) projects and set-aside units across several projects in the pipeline. Staff said FY24 point-in-time (PIT) data showed a 12% decrease in homelessness overall, including a 33% drop in family homelessness attributed mainly to newly available vouchers; national PIT figures showed increases in most subgroups.
Camp cleanups and enforcement: Staff reviewed complaint volumes and camp-cleanup costs and said the My Fort Worth app’s camp-related reporting increased; the city also shared modeled costs of small, medium and large campsite abatements. Legal staff advised the council that the city’s ordinance requiring 10 days’ prior notice for private-property abatement can be aligned with state law to a seven‑day notice period, which staff said could expedite private‑property abatements. Council members encouraged a consistent citywide approach to camp cleanup and enforcement and emphasized the need to pair enforcement with sheltering options.
High-impact pilot: The Directions Home high-impact pilot — funded in part by the city and designed to house and serve unsheltered people with suspected severe mental illness — aims to enroll 80 clients over 17 months and had housed 30 clients by early October under a small‑case-manager ratio. Staff said the pilot’s median client had been unsheltered about 7.5 years, that the program’s engagement-to‑housing acceptance rate exceeded 90% in early program data, and that a small number of clients required multiple contacts before accepting housing.
Agency response and capacity: Union Gospel Mission (UGM) told the council it plans to increase bed capacity by about 300 beds in 2025, and Presbyterian Night Shelter and other nonprofit partners are part of the shelter flow and outreach network. Staff noted shelter capacity is a limiting factor in the system and that portions of the city’s response rely on nonprofit partner capacity and regional vouchers.
Proposed funding shifts and next steps: Staff recommended carving the high‑impact pilot out of an upcoming RFP and redirecting several city contract lines to emphasize unsheltered-focused casework, document services, rapid rehousing and street outreach. They proposed an RFP release in January–February 2025 and program changes to take effect in October 2025. Staff also proposed renaming the City’s “Directions Home” unit to “Homeless Strategies” to clarify the office’s role as a coordinator rather than a direct-service nonprofit.
Council input and concerns: Council members urged consistent enforcement across neighborhoods, stronger communications and signage to direct public reporting, and more prevention and diversion resources earlier in the housing continuum. Several council members praised rapid joint response during high‑impact encampment interventions in late 2024 and urged quicker private‑property abatement where safety concerns exist.
Source: Presentation and remarks by Mark McDaniel, Bethany Warner and Tara Perez at the Fort Worth City Council work session, Jan. 14, 2025; comments from Union Gospel Mission CEO Charles Wolford; stakeholder engagement summarized by staff.
