The new executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), Robert Marbut, Ph.D., visited Austin recently to speak on a panel for the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) as part of its policy orientation program.
Marbut, who was appointed by President Donald Trump’s administration in December, is known for his dedication to ending homelessness in Texas. In addition to being the founding president and CEO for the San Antonio homeless shelter Haven for Hope, a former city council member and Mayor Pro Tem in San Antonio, Marbut served as a White House Fellow to President George W. Bush.
During the panel, Marbut spoke in detail about the importance of ensuring that people who are homeless and receiving services are either required or incentivized to participate in recovery and treatment programs.
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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) does not require treatment or recovery as a condition for a homeless individual to have access to services or housing.
When asked if he thinks the federal government will move in that direction in the future, Marbut said his office is beginning to liaise with lawmakers in Congress to see how best to bring ideas together, KXAN reported.
Marbut went on to present data from HUD – that he said had not been released until then – which showed the increase in the number of homeless people in America marked against the services those individuals were receiving.
The data showed that despite a 15.6 percent increase in the number of emergency shelter beds, rapid rehousing beds and permanent supportive housing beds since 2014, homelessness has increased by 20.5 percent since then.
Marbut said the data supports the theory that increasing funding and housing options alone does not reduce homelessness.
In Austin, homelessness has increased every year since 2014, according to the city’s Ending Community Homelessness Coalition’s Point in Time Count. Data shows 1,086 individuals were homeless in 2019 compared to 1,014 in 2018 despite an increase in sheltered people (1,133 in 2018 and 1,169 in 2019).
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