Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homelessness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Denton outlines homelessness figures and shelter changes; partners report increased housing exits
Summary
City staff presented data showing a drop in the point-in-time count and housing-priority list in 2026, described shelter program changes that reduced overnight capacity but expanded case management, and partner agencies reported increased exits to permanent housing and operational challenges.
Jesse Kidd, director of community services, briefed Denton City Council on June 2 on the city's homelessness initiatives, presenting several measures intended to portray the system's status and progress. Kidd told the council the 2025 point-in-time count peaked at 607 individuals and that the 2026 count recorded a 41% decrease; the housing-priority list declined about 40% in the same interval, from 580 to 347, and the city recorded 109 confirmed encampments in the current fiscal year concentrated on the 380 corridor west of US-77, downtown and the eastern loop.
Kidd said the city funds outreach and shelter services including $125,000 for street outreach, $400,000 to support the Denton Community Shelter operations, $98,000 for system licenses and roughly $80,000 for a barriers fund. He described program design changes: an administrative directive assigning community services to lead encampment response, a shelter stay policy emphasizing weekly case management and volunteer hours, a ratio tied to case managers (1:20), an overnight shelter capacity that was adjusted from 192 to 120 program beds plus 12 diversion beds, and a median current length of stay of 59 days. Kidd said staff completed 10 of 19 auditor recommendations, with seven in progress and two planned; the auditor's formal follow-up is expected in 2027.
United Way's president and CEO, Gary Henderson, credited council policy direction and city funding with enabling diversion and collaborative implementation across agencies. Wendy McGee, executive director of Our Daily Bread (the shelter operator), said the shelter now emphasizes individualized case management and reported a 33% increase in the number of people transitioned to permanent housing (comparing January—May year-over-year). McGee acknowledged challenges including misinformation about services, a waiting list, difficulty contacting some clients, and that some clients require substantially longer stays.
Interim Police Chief Tony Salazar told council the police changed how they code calls to capture whether an incident involved an unhoused person while preserving the original call type, which may increase counts of homelessness-related police responses. Council members asked for continued updates, requested that staff provide data six months out on extension requests (for other agenda items), and acknowledged the need for further analysis tying eviction and client-level data to shelter system engagement.
Kidd and partners emphasized the complexity of measuring homelessness, recommended using multiple indicators beyond the PIT count, and said the city is continuing work on data maturity and coordination with county-level partners and service providers. The council did not take further action at the meeting beyond receiving the report and public partner remarks.
