Overview
In this section, multi-agency collaborations from two jurisdictions talk about how community connections allow for systemic solutions. These panels tell the stories of how their collaborations began and share promising practices for those in the field looking to either begin for further refine their multi-system work.
Module 5a: Houston, Texas – Police Court Partnerships
Harris County, Texas, is home to an exceptional cross-agency collaboration of law enforcement, courts, and behavioral health providers coming together to divert people experiencing homelessness from the justice system. This effort includes partners from the police Homeless Outreach Team (HOT Team), the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and the Harris County Mental Health Jail Diversion Program, all coming together to ensure that people experiencing homelessness are not criminalized but rather provided with needed support and services.
The Harris County partners come together regularly in roundtable and one-on-one discussions to provide individualized and effective attention to local community members in need. Through a shared understanding and commitment to this population and the community at large, the Harris County team provides a good case study in what has worked for one municipality. In the linked video, the panel shares recommendations for other communities.
For a full transcript of the video, click here.
Module 5b: Austin, Texas – Multiagency Partnerships
Austin, Texas, is home to a multiagency collaboration that comes together to support people experiencing homelessness locally. The Homeless Outreach Street Team (HOST) is an interdisciplinary group comprising the Austin Police Department (APD), emergency medical services (EMS), Downtown Austin Community Court (DACC), and Integral Care. HOST proactively seeks out community members living on the streets of Austin, learns the challenges they face, and connects them to services with the ultimate goal of housing. HOST is one part of the community’s approach to making homelessness in Austin rare, brief, and nonrecurring. DACC uses a client-centered and housing-focused intensive case management model to help individuals experiencing homelessness achieve long-term stability; this program offers voluntary referral, public benefits enrollment, and other community resource management services for people experiencing homelessness. Integral Care offers support to adults and children living with mental illness, substance use disorder, and intellectual and developmental disabilities in Travis County.
The Downtown Austin Alliance has been a long-time supporter and champion of the HOST team by offering opportunities for partnership, development, and funding. The Downtown Alliance, representing the ownership of nearly 900 commercial properties in the Austin Downtown Public Improvement District, supports the HOST team’s work and provides direct services to downtown and advocates for and invests in local organizations’ efforts. In the linked video, this collaboration talks about promising practices on resource- and information-sharing and on how they use peer specialists throughout their programming.
