Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homelessness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City environmental compliance director details WE CAN outreach, encampment cleanup and limitations
Summary
Amber Thompson, the City of Garland environmental compliance director, told the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board that the city’s WE CAN outreach works with police liaisons and regional nonprofit partners to offer services, clean encampments and attempt diversion from the criminal justice system.
Amber Thompson, the City of Garland environmental compliance director, told the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board that the city’s WE CAN (Wayward Encampment and Community Assistance Network) outreach works with police liaisons and regional nonprofit partners to offer services, clean encampments and attempt diversion from the criminal justice system.
Thompson said her team—two homeless liaisons (Garland Police Department officers Polk and Wilson) and herself—investigates reports of people living outdoors, offers assistance and coordinates weekly outreach with partners such as Metro Relief and Housing Forward. She said Metro Relief’s case managers often spend months or years helping people obtain identification, shelter placement and addiction counseling and that “getting someone off the streets almost never happens overnight.”
Thompson briefed the board on operational practices: when an encampment is on public property the city issues a 72‑hour notice before removal and officers offer services; private-property encampments are the property owner’s responsibility and staff advise owners on prevention and referral options. She said outreach can include help obtaining social security cards and birth certificates and, in rare cases when a person is an immediate danger to themselves or others, officers may seek a mental‑health warrant.
The presentation described regional coordination with the cities of Mesquite, Sunnyvale and Dallas to avoid displacing people across jurisdictional lines, and a reliance on nonprofits and county / regional programs because Garland does not operate a homeless shelter or a rapid rehousing program. Thompson pointed board members to Housing Forward and HUD point‑in‑time (PIT) data for longitudinal sheltering and rehousing statistics.
On measurable activity, Thompson reported that since she took over the program in October 2024 crews removed about 320,000 pounds of encampment‑related material and that Garland’s PIT count dropped from roughly 120 people in 2023 to about 70 in the most recent count. She said the decline in the PIT count shows fewer people counted during the January survey but cautioned that counts and service outcomes are produced by Housing Forward and HUD and that movement off the street “may take a year” for individuals who accept services.
Board members acknowledged the operational work and raised community concerns. One board member identified as Jerry said the visibility of encampments affects first impressions of Garland and urged continued attention to maintenance and cleanup in high‑visibility corridors. Thompson and the board discussed recurring hotspots (Centerville Road, LBJ and Guthrie) and that outreach and cleanup work is time‑intensive; she repeated that staff can offer services but cannot force acceptance.
Thompson closed by repeating city contact points (wecan@garlandtx.gov) and encouraging donations of time or funds to outreach organizations rather than direct street charity so providers can address root causes and help with identification and shelter placement.
Ending
Thompson asked the board to consider the regional structure of the response and to direct residents seeking more data to Housing Forward or HUD PIT reports for counts and rehousing statistics.
