There have been 887 homeless service requests submitted over the last 30 days to the City of Dallas Office of Homeless Solutions initiated through 311 calls, according to an interactive dashboard.
An online tool purporting to show the number and status of such service requests on a rolling 30-day basis indicates that 89 of the requests are new or in progress. However, it is unclear exactly when the figures were last updated.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, polling shows that some 75% of Dallas voters think homelessness and vagrancy continue to be “major” problems throughout the city.
The dashboard shows that the Dallas City Council district with the most service requests over the last month is Council Member Jesse Moreno’s District 2, which includes about half of Downtown Dallas, the Medical District, and some of the neighborhoods along I-30 east of the city center.
One of the open service requests in District 2, which was made on February 26, reads: “1 Black male and 2 Hispanic males and 1 female, needing services. This intersection need[s] to be cleared out and cleaned, trash everywhere.” The address noted was 1631 Cadiz St.
Another reads: “Citizen called to report homeless encampment behind the blue dumpster at 1506 Browder St.”
Other open requests refer to homeless encampments and public camping.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Haven for Hope in San Antonio uses a “one-stop-shop” approach to fighting homelessness, providing supportive services like counseling and job training on the same campus where it maintains transitional housing. The model has been credited with a 77% reduction in unsheltered homelessness in downtown San Antonio and has polled favorably among Dallas residents.
Some local stakeholders are looking to deploy the model in Dallas. However, it is unclear whether City officials will support the effort.
The Dallas Express reached out to the City for comment on the homeless service request dashboard and to confirm whether the figures were accurate but did not receive a response by press time.
