Audit shows city of Austin's weather plans not meeting residents' needs
AUSTIN, Texas - An audit of the City of Austin's cold weather and heat management plans shows the city is not meeting residents' needs. The audit found the city has previously failed to open cold weather shelters when it should have.
Specifically, the city didn't open warming shelters on four separate days earlier this year when temperatures were below freezing. On two of those nights, temperatures were forecasted to be in the 20s.
The report also says the city's cold and warm weather plans are outdated. While the plans are supposed to be reviewed and updated annually, the last time the plans were updated was back in November 2019.
The audit concluded that without updates the city has struggled to staff overnight shelters with trained employees and may not be able to meet residents' needs in the future.
The city responded to the audit with a statement blaming COVID-19 on a disruption in cold weather shelter operations and a lack of support compared to previous years.
The statement reads: "Following the arrival of COVID-19, Austin’s network of community-operated Cold Weather Shelters for people experiencing homelessness was disrupted and no longer able to provide the support it had in previous years. The City responded by adapting to fill in the gaps, leaning on City facilities and employees to provide the necessary support for our unhoused population.
"Even so, during the cold weather events of almost a year ago, the City successfully sheltered more than 2,000 people over 17 nights.
"As part of a plan to address some of the challenges highlighted by the Auditor, the FY23 budget included new funding to contract with a third-party provider for regular Cold Weather Shelter activities. Last month, Council approved a contract with the Austin Area Urban League to provide shelter operations during future cold weather activation periods. This winter, AAUL will support City of Austin Cold Weather Shelter activities, with a plan to assume full responsibility during the 2023/2024 winter season. In the meantime, the City has updated its plans to make clear when shelters will be activated."
The city says aside from shelters, residents can use public libraries, recreation centers and six pilot resilience hubs to warm up, if needed during regular business hours.