Dallas City Councilmembers are frustrated about the lack of progress on solving the city's homeless problem.
The city says there are dozens of reported homeless camps, most of them are clustered near downtown.
"I was amazed to hear this morning we don't really know how much homeless people we have in this city," said councilwoman Carolyn King Arnold. "We've got to take a serious step toward putting individuals, human beings, into shelters with wrap around services, so they are not subjected to the harms of society."
The city manager's budget proposal calls for a $4.4 million increase in homeless assistance. Most of that is covered by grants, but city taxpayers will be asked to pay $1 million more.
At a meeting on Tuesday, councilwoman Tiffinni Young told the city's homeless commission to consider other options
"There are other ways our faith-based community could be helping us. I'm not hearing any conversation about the ways we could be getting more help and assistance other than keep coming back to this council saying, 'We need more money. We need more for this. We need more money for street outreach. We need more money for vouchers. We need more money to put some beds here.' Maybe there are ways to supplement some of that," Young said.
Young suggested extending an invitation to other faith-based groups, while councilman Philip Kingston asked why the city's empty buildings are not being utilized.
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"I'm a little disappointed on the timeline, to tell you the truth," Kingston said. "This is an idea that's been around for an awfully long time and has worked at other cities. That's the reason why I keep bringing it up because I would very much like a more turn-key solution that's been tested elsewhere, rather than try to invent Dallas' singular approach to homelessness."
According to city statistics, 75 homeless people in recent months have been moved into transitional apartments, private housing or emergency shelters.
Outreach efforts are on-going at an encampment at Interstate 30 and Haskell Road, but a timeline to close the site has not been established.
