Dallas Homeless Response to be Accelerated with White House Partnership.

Dallas is partnering with the White House, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, and Housing Forward in a new project aimed to increase local efforts to house the homeless. The two-year partnership, called All INside, is part of a larger initiative called All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, designed to reduce homelessness by 25% by 2025.

During a virtual event hosted by the White House last week, Susan Rice, President Joe Biden’s domestic policy advisor, highlighted that homelessness in the United States “comes down to an inadequate supply of housing, but it also intersects mental and behavioral health, substance use and so many other key issues.” The All In partnership aims to address these issues by working with Dallas’ Office of Homeless Solutions and Housing Forward, as well as the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and 19 other federal agencies, to help get people off the streets and find them appropriate housing.

Dallas is one of the five cities chosen to receive this assistance, along with Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle, and Chicago. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson expressed his support in a statement, explaining that his administration has taken a comprehensive approach to addressing homelessness. “We welcome this partnership with the federal government and will leverage it to encourage healthier and safer communities in Dallas,” he said.

The hope is that the All In partnership will expedite local efforts to reduce the unsheltered homeless population while finding opportunities to relax regulations that may be slowing down the local homeless response system. Last year, there were over 580,000 homeless individuals in the United States, with four out of every 10 people being unsheltered. The 2023 homeless population count in Dallas and Collin counties found 4,244 homeless people, a slight decrease from the previous year’s count of 4,410. The census also found that Black people are disproportionately represented among the homeless population, making up 60% of the homeless population despite only comprising 24% of the general population across both counties.

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn King Arnold added that Dallas is working to provide homelessness services in an equitable manner, hoping to confront the racial inequities prevalent in housing and homelessness. “We know that this All In partnership will help amplify those efforts, and look forward to continuing these efforts together, working to solve homelessness and continuing to confront the racial inequities that are prevalent in housing and homelessness,” Arnold said.

By partnering with the federal government, these cities aim to make significant progress towards ending homelessness across the United States. With a complex and variegated approach, All In is a promising step in the right direction.