City of McKinney explores ways to address homeless population

Courtesy of Visit McKinney

McKinney Courier Gazette
By Winston Henvey / Star Local Media
October 6, 2023

Through increased police presence and more resources dedicated to assisting those without stable housing, the city of McKinney aims to address homelessness specifically in the downtown area.

At a Monday McKinney City Council meeting Housing Director Janay Tieken presented to council how many homeless individuals were counted citywide, as well as shared what programs are in place to help rehouse McKinney’s homeless population.

According to Tieken, the city counted 223 homeless individuals in 2023, higher than the 215 counted in 2021. Tieken said that McKinney residents have been deemed “good tippers” by panhandlers, making the city more attractive to homeless individuals, in addition to the several county-wide nonprofits based in McKinney.

Tieken addressed issues with the point-in-time count conducted every January to get a number on homeless individuals in McKinney.

“It’s in a 24-hour period in the dead of winter, so it’s not the greatest time to self-identify,” Tieken said “But, that’s what HUD said its guidelines are.”

When looking at the number of homeless individuals counted, Tieken said that 76% of the population are adults, while 24% are children. According to her presentation, counters from the city asked individuals in 2019 why they were homeless. Key reasons in 2019 included a lack of funding, lack of affordable housing, divorce, being kicked out of a house, illness and domestic violence, among other reasons.

To help assist the homeless population in McKinney, the city partners with the Salvation Army, Emanual Labor and McKinney First Baptist Church to provide warming stations to those who are unsheltered in freezing conditions.

Lifepath offers behavioral health resources, while Hope Fellowship McKinney offers streetside showers for those experiencing homelessness.

The city offers free transportation for a period of time to homeless individuals under the care of social services to help them get to and from a workplace. The city also offers flex funding to help nonprofits provide some housing security, clothing for job interviews and more to those in need.

For fiscal year 2024, Tieken said the top priorities for the city are to gather more reliable data on McKinney’s homeless population, discourage panhandling, increase city response to assist those experiencing homelessness and offer safety training for staff who conduct point-in-time counts.

In 2023, the city spent $92,000 out of a budgeted $175,000 to assist McKinney’s homeless population through nonprofit partnerships, legal services including eviction prevention and the city’s Have a Heart, Give Smart campaign.

This fiscal year, city staff proposed a $142,000 budget to offer more funding for media campaigns and nonprofit partnerships, as well as safety training to avoid potential biohazards and signage to discourage panhandling.

To address the law enforcement side of addressing homelessness, McKinney Police Chief Joe Ellenburg told council that the police are limited on how they can respond due to the laws in place. A lot of the crimes the police department has cited for its homeless populations are Class C misdemeanors, which are punishable by a fine, he said. Because those experiencing homelessness do not have the money to pay the fine, and they don’t have a home to receive court documentation regarding the charge, cases regarding these misdemeanors are dismissed, he said.

Some options Ellenburg suggested included adding a median ordinance, disallowing pedestrians to stand or walk on a median less than six feet wide, a street performance ordinance limiting where and for how long street performers can stay downtown and educational programs for downtown residents and merchants on what the police can and cannot do when addressing homeless individuals.

Ellenburg also proposed limiting homeless activity by relocating some of the nonprofits based in downtown McKinney and increasing the police presence in the area through a downtown unit.

As the fiscal year progresses the city will continue looking at ways to alleviate the homeless population in McKinney.