HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 154 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 22-154
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council October 18, 2022
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*a SUBJECT: FAMILY HOMELESSNESS TRENDS
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Fort Worth is experiencing a significant increase in family homelessness. For purposes of this report, the term
"family" means households with at least one adult and one minor. The Tarrant County Homeless Coalition
(TCHC) has interviewed families staying at Salvation Army family shelter to better understand the influx. A
significant majority of families are local, although some are from other areas. A convergence of factors seem to
be driving the increase: 1) expiration of the eviction moratorium, 2) end of federal rental assistance, 3) rent
increases/inflation and 4) friends/family allowing others to double up have been hit with economic pressures
and are no longer able to allow these families to share housing. After leaving family and friends, some families
have paid for motels themselves but are no longer able to do so.
Rent growth in the Dallas—Fort Worth metropolitan area outpaced that of most metro areas in the third quarter
of 2022. Rents for both conventional (market rate) and affordable units are increasing.
Price Class D Effective Rent vs Occupancy Growth
2.0%
St.Louis
■ New York
1.0% ■ ■
Boston San Diego
' Philadelphia
San Francisco Los Angeles
0.0% • ■ Chicago
Houston
Minn polls Washington■ ■ Miami Tarn
pa
National ■ •
_ -1.0% Baltimore Dallas-Fort Worth
V
V
d
-2-0 4
Detroit Riverside Atlanta
■ Phoenix Seattle
-3.0% Denver ■ •
-4.0%
2.5% 4.5% 6.5% 8.5% 10.5% 12.5%
Effective Rent Growth ¢]ALN data
1 Bedroom— January September
Effective Rent 2022 2022
Conventional $1,323 $1,434 Source:ALN Apartment Data
Affordable $986 $1,081
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 22-154
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council October 18, 2022
s
° ram Page 2 of 3
*a SUBJECT: FAMILY HOMELESSNESS TRENDS
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From January 2019 through July 2020, there were approximately 120-140 families experiencing homelessness
at any given time in Tarrant and Parker counties. The number decreased below 120 from July 2020 through
September 2021, dropping as low as 83 households at one point. During the third quarter of 2022, however,
there was an average of 162 households experiencing homelessness at any given time. Typically, 85 percent of
the system numbers are from Fort Worth.
Families
18C
120
60
0
Q1 2019 Q3 2019 Q1 2020 Q3 2020 Q1 2021 Q3 2021 Q1 2022 Q3 2022
■ Families ■ Families Housed
One factor contributing to the increase is a jump in family size. Families now are averaging 5.9 persons per
family, whereas it is usually around four. This factor accounts for a much larger increase of "persons in
families" than just looking at households. There are now nearly 1,000 persons in families experiencing
homelessness.
People in Families
900
600
300
0
Q1 2019 Q3 2019 Q1 2020 Q3 2020 Q1 2021 Q3 2021 Q1 2022 Q3 2022
■ People in Families ■ People in Families Housed
The Salvation Army family shelter currently has 60 beds for family members. However, during the week of
October 1, the organization served approximately 300 persons. During this period, they have been
accommodating extra people by providing cots set up on the gym floor and renting motel rooms, but the
organization does not have adequate funding to continue renting motel rooms. As a result, they have
temporarily discontinued accepting new families.
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 22-154
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council October 18, 2022
s
° ram Page 3 of 3
*a SUBJECT: FAMILY HOMELESSNESS TRENDS
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Presbyterian Night Shelter is now allowing two small families to share a single room and bathroom in order to
accommodate more households. However, due to facility design and safety needs (separating other adults from
families), there are limits on how many additional families the system can shelter. Also, the number of
individuals in shelters has increased with women's beds usually being full and very few beds left for men.
Because of the lack of family shelter beds, street outreach workers are seeing significant numbers of unsheltered
families in our system for the first time as families are sleeping in cars.
The City of Fort Worth has allocated$75,000 to the Salvation Army family shelter to continue supporting its
operations. The City also reallocated some federal funds focused solely on rapidly rehousing families. The
City Council is currently considering funding for Tobias Place,which will dedicate 53 very low-income units to
homeless households who will be referred by TCHC based on then-current system priority. At this time, that
priority would be given to families to help address the dramatic increase in homeless families. The City is
preparing for general cold-weather overflow shelter operations. Motel rooms for families on cold weather
trigger nights will be funded by the City. TCHC has drafted some system-wide options to avert a crisis of
unsheltered families and is currently discussing these options with elected officials.
For more information,please contact Directions Home Manager Tara Perez at.Tara.Perezgfortworthtexas.gov.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS