Introduction

The 2021 Needs and Gaps Report for the TX-503 Austin/Travis County Continuum of Care (CoC) provides an overview of who the Homelessness Response System (HRS) serves, how they use the different services in the system, and what the system needs to end homelessness in Austin and Travis County. Our analyses show that our CoC serves a diverse population with different needs, from minimal housing assistance to permanent housing programs, such as Rapid Re-Housing and Permanent Supportive Housing. The numbers in the “Optimal System” section of this report describe what the HRS would need to have a system where homelessness in our community is a rare, brief, and non-recurring experience for everyone.

Data

Demographic data in Figures 1 through 10 of this report were collected about individuals and households who enrolled and/or received services dedicated to persons experiencing homelessness or who are at-risk of homelessness in 2019 and 2020. Agencies and the programs that make up the HRS enter data into the local Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) managed by ECHO, the HMIS Lead Agency. This is in contrast to the 2019 report, where ECHO used Coordinated Entry System data collected via assessments for people seeking entry to Permanent Housing programs such as Rapid Re-Housing and Permanent Supportive Housing. The data in this year’s report represents the broadest group of people experiencing homelessness that we have comprehensive data for.

About ECHO

The Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) is the Austin/Travis County Continuum of Care lead agency tasked with planning and coordinating community-wide strategies to end homelessness in the Austin and Travis County geographic region. We work in collaboration with community nonprofits and government agencies to coordinate services and housing resources for people experiencing homelessness (PEH) in our community. ECHO manages the local Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) database and uses research and evidence-based practices to advocate for the resources to bring the local Homelessness Response System to scale and meet our community’s goal of making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring.

Population Characteristics

Insight: From 2019 to 2020, the demographics of people enrolled in HRS projects did not change significantly.


Population Characteristics in 2020

Race and Ethnicity in 2020

Population Characteristics in 2019

Race and Ethnicity in 2019