Tucson officials unveil shelter‑bed dashboard and park outreach unit as HUD funding shifts loom

Tucson city staff told Mayor and Council on June 23 that litigation and federal action preserved existing Continuum of Care awards through 2027 but left about 40 percent of local CoC funds—roughly $7 million—subject to national competition. "This is a significant victory," Jason Thorp, deputy director for Housing and Community Development, said, while also warning that the new HUD notice of funding opportunity will require program changes and present a competitive process for many existing projects.

Thorp said federal changes shift a larger share of funds toward transitional housing models and impose additional participant requirements. He said the local Continuum and partner providers are working to align proposals with new federal priorities and that applications for the FY26/27 competition are due July 15.

As part of the presentation, staff launched a shared shelter‑bed availability dashboard developed by the Tucson/Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness and partners. Thorp described the tool as a near‑real‑time resource reporting on more than 700 shelter beds, updated twice daily by participating providers, and including intake rules, contact information and heat‑relief resources. "On any given night we've been seeing somewhere between 15 and 35 beds reported as available," he said, adding the dashboard is not truly continuous real time and nightly fills still occur.

Assistant City Manager Liz Morales said coordinated "safe city" deployments recently contacted 53 people and achieved a roughly 55 percent service acceptance rate across those deployments, a result that council members praised as evidence of stronger trust‑building by outreach teams.

Parks and Recreation Director Laurara Hamway outlined a new PACE (Park Assistance and Community Engagement) unit assigned to respond to encampment reports in parks, assess conditions, collect local data, and connect individuals to outreach or public safety partners. Hamway said the unit will be a first point of contact and will refer mental‑health and substance‑use needs to trained partners rather than providing clinical services.

Council members pressed staff about shelter partners who do not report bed counts to the dashboard. Thorp said Gospel Rescue Mission and the Southern Arizona VA opted out of real‑time bed reporting—largely because they do not accept federal funding—but that program information for those providers remains in the dashboard's directory. Council members also asked whether the TBCH dashboard will display the recently opened "safer center" model and how the PACE unit will track mental‑health or drug‑related referrals; staff said they will follow up to expand reporting layers and that PACE will coordinate with existing outreach and clinical partners.

The council hearing also included a presentation from the Commission on Equitable Housing and Development. Commission chair Jay Young urged stable, flexible funding for prevention and eviction diversion, expanded housing stability navigators, better service coordination, and a public education campaign on homelessness causes and resources. "A centralized, adequately staffed homeless‑prevention information system could reduce homelessness by making resource navigation far simpler for both residents and providers," Young said.

Council members asked staff for measurable targets and an implementation timeline for quick‑build safety nets and prioritized corridor projects; staff said those elements would be incorporated into upcoming quarterly updates. The council took no formal action on new policy at the meeting; staff characterized the session as informational and said no directives were required beyond continuing coordination and reporting.