Texas bill would force homeless service providers to relocate if too close to schools

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- A bill designed to create a buffer zone between Texas public schools and the facilities that provide services to people experiencing homelessness received mostly positive feedback from the public, but some worry about unintended consequences.

Senate Bill 2623, authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R - Conroe, would create "school safety zones." A facility that provides homeless services would not be allowed to operate anywhere in a 1,500-foot radius from a public school property line. Originally, the bill called for a 1.5-mile radius but the Republican senator changed that language at a committee hearing Tuesday.

Homeless services include shelter, medical care, meals, drug rehabilitation, job training, financial assistance and mental health treatment, according to the bill. The bill would establish a School Safety Zones Task Force, a four-member team appointed by the governor, to identify facilities that fall within that zone and to report back to the legislature with recommendations.

Any facility that is operated by a county or municipality that refuses to cease service operations could have tax dollars withheld, and any provider that does not stop providing services could face a monetary penalty.

The bill is designed to make the area around public schools safer for students and families. Creighton agrees the navigation services provide essential services to people who are experiencing homelessness, but he said the location of those services does matter.

"While they often provide essential services, like meals and housing, many also operate as behavioral health treatment sites and distribute resources, like Narcan. These efforts are important, but that does not make every location appropriate. No parent should have to walk their child by Narcan vending machines on the way to school or spend their weekends cleaning up used needles from a school playground. It's simply common sense that facilities designed to serve high-risk populations should not be placed next to our schools," Creighton said while laying out his bill to the committee.

Many of the people who testified on the bill Tuesday afternoon thanked the senator for reducing the size of the school safety zone. The original 1.5-mile radius would have impacted many facilities across the state, including Haven for Hope in San Antonio.

The facility serves 85% of San Antonio's homeless population, providing wrap-around services to help people experiencing homelessness return to the community as self-sustainable. Currently the facility houses 1,600 people. It has a few schools surrounding its 22-acre property and officials there were concerned by the original bill.

"I struggle to see how we would be able to continue to be in operation with the way the bill is currently written," David Huete, the vice president of programs for Haven for Hope, said before learning about the bill's changes.

Ginny Stafford, the CEO of Mid-Coast Family Services, testified at the Capitol. Mid-Coast Family Services is a nonprofit that provides homeless services in Victoria, Texas and surrounding counties. Stafford mentioned that her services are located in the middle of town, where most homeless people congregate, but that is where a majority of older schools are located as well. She is worried there may be unintended consequences from the bill.

"I'm worried that the one-size-fits-all approach won't fit for all communities. Problems that you may experience in Austin are not what we experience in Victoria or what's experienced in Dallas," Stafford said.

Ryan Davenport, a former educator in Dallas Independent School District, testified against the bill saying it was "almost there." He recommends the state provide an exemption to providers who are serving homeless youths and families with school-aged kids.

"Even limiting the distance to 1,500 feet can still put the brakes on critical services for our most vulnerable Texans," Davenport said.

The Texas Office of the Attorney General would be responsible for enforcement. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made headlines late last year when his office sued a homeless service provider operating across the street from an elementary school in Austin. The provider, Sunrise Navigation Center, said on its website it "offers pathways to housing for people experiencing homelessness through low-barrier access to wraparound services by providing innovative, trauma-informed, and person-centered programming that engages our communities and leads system-wide transformation."

According to its website, Sunrise staff helped nearly 11,000 clients in 2023, served nearly 80,000 meals and answered about 30,000 hotline calls. Neighbors in the area have complained about the homeless activity around the facility. The AG's lawsuit claimed Sunrise had become a "staging ground for prolific drug use."

Mark Hilbelink, the executive director for Sunrise Navigation Center, said in a statement about the bill, "While it's great that the Senate is talking about one of the largest challenges in Texas, attempting to do so only via complaints and hindering the very organizations who bravely and thanklessly stand in the gap is counterproductive. Families with school-aged children are one of the fastest-growing parts of the homeless population in Texas, so attempting to set school districts and homeless service providers against each other is both inaccurate and unhelpful."

The statement went on to say, "Around 4,000 school-aged children experienced homelessness just in the Austin area last year and that would be a better place to focus the attention of our legislative support. The very service providers who would suffer from this sort of bill the most are also the ones helping families and school districts the most."

The bill was left pending in committee.