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Resident urges city to track and target student homelessness funding
Summary
Scott Johnson, creator of a 'homeless student assistance fund' donation option on utility bills, urged the committee to direct staff to report on student homelessness counts within Austin ISDs and consider targeting budget dollars for students experiencing homelessness.
Scott Johnson, who said he originated a homeless student assistance fund that appears as a donation option on utility bills, spoke during the public communications portion of the June 4 Public Health Committee meeting.
Johnson asked the committee to request a staff report showing counts of students experiencing homelessness in Austin and in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) and suggested the committee examine whether any of the city’s proposed budget allocations for the coming year target student homelessness. “There's approximately 1,900 in the 23‑24 school year,” Johnson said, referring to student homelessness figures he cited for the 2023–24 school year; he urged the committee to seek updated school-year counts for AISD and other local ISDs that receive donations through the utility-bill option.
Johnson noted Saint David’s Foundation supports youth homelessness work and asked the committee to check whether new budget proposals include programs targeted to students. He closed by asking staff to report to the council before budget approval if additional city funding for student homelessness is available or necessary.
