Phoenix City Council launches new 5-prong strategy to cut down on homelessness

PHOENIX — Phoenix City Council officials are testing new strategies to address homelessness and support people living without shelter.

The council recently approved a “comprehensive roadmap” informed by feedback from residents and service providers that aims to implement long‑term solutions that will prevent and reduce homelessness in the city by 2029.

“This plan reflects how far we’ve come and where we are going next,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in a Tuesday announcement.

The roadmap consists of five major categories — prevention, neighborhood safety, coordination, housing and system accountability — each of which has separate checkpoints leaders will use to measure their success.

“By working closely with our partners and the community, we’re building a more responsive system that meets people where they are and helps them move forward, while working to resolve neighborhood concerns,” Gallego said.

What are the details of Phoenix City Council’s plan?

Each part of the five-prong plan is broken down into four initiatives, as well as three impact outcomes.

• Prevention: Expand early intervention efforts and housing-focused reentry services for people leaving the justice or behavioral health systems to prevent people from becoming homeless.
• Neighborhood safety: Respect unhoused peoples’ need for support and maintain safety for all residents by investing in weather relief solutions, creating a dashboard of shelter bed availability for outreach workers and more.
• Coordination: Expand integrated behavioral health and medical care for unsheltered people by embedding specialists in outreach and shelter teams and aligning funding. They will also strengthen system accountability, build provider capacity and connect shelter residents to jobs through training and dedicated support.
• Housing: Explore new models and innovative ways of supporting unhoused people, such as investing in permanent housing, developing new housing models, streamlining positive exits to housing from shelters, conducting a systemwide modeling to help identify peoples’ needs and more.
• Accountability: Establish consistent metrics, such as improving training for staff, improving coordination across departments, evaluated city-funded services and investments, collecting data on key indicators and more.

The full plan breaks down each part of the plan into specific initiatives as well as measurable impact outcomes.

Homelessness has been a major issue in Phoenix for years

In 2020, the city created its first Strategies to End Homelessness plan, and it launched the Office of Homeless Solutions in July 2022.

These efforts weren’t enough for the nearly 1,000 people living in tents in a massive homeless encampment known as The Zone, a stretch between 7th and 15th Avenues and Van Buren Street to Jackson Street where people had lived on the streets for years.

More than two years ago, a court ruling required the city to clear out The Zone. Phoenix began cleaning up the area in May 2023 after nearby residents and businesses sued the city, arguing it wasn’t maintaining the neighborhood or enforcing laws there.

Homelessness is a Valley-wide issue, and Maricopa County officials have long relied on data-driven approaches to help understand the issue.

One example is the annual Point-in-Time homelessness count, conducted by the Maricopa Association of Governments and cities across the Valley.

Each year, volunteers spread out across the region to interview people experiencing homelessness and identify what services they need. Last year’s count showed a 3% increase in homelessness across the Valley. The results of this year’s count will be released in spring.

Those experiencing housing insecurity can use this list of nonprofits and resources compiled by KTAR News 92.3 FM.

Related

Valley mothers share frustrations with local responses to homelessnessPhoenix Rescue Mission saves over 700 unhoused people during summer heat relief campaignDowntown Phoenix housing project opens for homeless veterans and seniorsMaricopa County heat deaths surge past 2025’s pace as officials expand cooling resourcesCircle the City files lawsuit over Phoenix parks ordinance, alleges it directly targets homeless peopleAdvocate calls for state of emergency to address family homelessness in Phoenix area