Dallas County Homeless Tab at $50 Million

Treating, sheltering, and jailing the homeless cost the county of Dallas taxpayers $50 million each year. Authorities are trying to find answers to the complex issue of how to help the homeless most efficiently.

The Dallas Morning News reports there are between 6000 and 10,000 homeless people in Dallas County, Texas. Fifty million dollars is a conservative estimate of the money spent on the homeless each year because it is determined from adding the budgets of at least 15 departments and agencies that provide help to homeless individuals and families. An additional $23 million in private funds is also spent. The chronically homeless, those suffering from mental illness, addictions, and disabilities that cause them to live on the streets for extended periods of time, are estimated to be ten percent of the overall homeless population. This fraction of the homeless population is estimated to use half of the resources, or at least $25 million, because they keep bouncing from one agency to another. For example, a homeless person might move between jail, the county hospital, a shelter, a mental hospital, and the streets. Dr. Ed Nace, a psychiatrist and president of the North Texas Chapter of the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians, said people with mental conditions and addictions easily fall through the cracks and do not get adequate substance-abuse treatment or medications. The Dallas police confront the issues involved with homelessness frequently. Securing vacant buildings and picking people up for panhandling, criminal trespass, or drinking and sleeping in public places by police officers costs the county $30.91 per hour. Often the homeless person spends ten days in jail just to be released out on the streets to start the cycle all over again. Another agency helping the homeless population of Dallas County is Parkland Hospital, the county hospital, which has a homeless outreach program called HOMES. They have two mobile clinics equipped with nursing stations, exam rooms, pharmacy and restroom. Local officials are looking for answers for homelessness. Dallas County Commissioner J. W. Price says you can’t just keep doing the same thing and hope it goes away, there has to be a different model to pursue. The US Interagency Council on Homelessness is trying to address some of the issues associated with the chronically homeless population in the US. One of the state and local initiatives that they have started is encouraging communities to develop a ten year plan to end homelessness. Although Dallas County is not listed as having a ten year plan, neighboring Tarrant County, home of Fort Worth, has developed their plan which includes "increasing supply of permanent supportive housing, expanding opportunities and service linked to accountability, developing and operating a central resource facility," and other initiatives. As the US Interagency Council on Homelessness website states,

Homelessness is a national problem with local solutions. No one federal agency, no one level of government and no one sector of the community can reach the goal of ending homelessness alone. Federal agency collaborations and partnerships with state and local governments and the private and faith-based and community sectors are key to achieving the objectives of preventing and ending homelessness.