Despite his arguably questionable track record regarding work to prevent homelessness, the Austin city council will vote Thursday on whether to hire Matt Doherty in a consulting role for eight months.
If hired, Doherty's fee is not to exceed $95,000. He is being considered for the position after Austin’s first Homeless Strategy Officer transitioned out of the role in October, just months after she was hired.
Doherty was previously appointed by former President Barack Obama to be the executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness in 2015. In that role, Doherty embraced a “housing first” approach, which did not require homeless individuals to address behavioral health issues or move through programs before gaining access to housing, according to the 2016 USICH Fact Sheet.
However, according to a Jan. 24 KXAN report, Doherty’s policy shift did not decrease homelessness. Instead, homelessness increased during his tenure, the report said.
Doherty was replaced as executive director of USICH by Robert Marbut, who founded the San Antonio homeless shelter “Haven for Hope.” Doherty was named adviser on homelessness for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and it is unclear whether he would keep that role if Austin hires him Thursday.
Marbut was in Austin speaking on a panel by the Texas Public Policy Foundation as part of the foundation’s Policy Orientation program, and Marbut said that he saw value in requiring homeless individuals to undergo treatment for drug or alcohol (or mental health) issues that they might face, as part of their access to housing services, KXAN reported.
“Once you’re in the program, whatever the program looks like,” Marbut said, “you have to have treatment recovery that’s customized for you. And if you’re not doing it, it has to either be incentivized or required.”
The city will consider Doherty’s hiring as a consultant at Thursday's meeting.
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