San Antonio Creates Dedicated Homeless Services Department Amid Rising Need

San Antonio is taking a major step in addressing homelessness by establishing a new city department solely focused on homeless services. The Homeless Services and Strategy Department will officially launch Oct. 1, separating from the larger Human Services Department in response to rising needs and community priorities.

Leadership and structure

The department will be led by Mark Carmona, the city’s chief housing officer, alongside Patrick Steck, former assistant director of Human Services. Its initial workforce will consist of 43 employees transferred from Human Services who already have experience working on the city’s homelessness response.

With a $26.1 million budget for the next fiscal year, the department will have resources dedicated to reducing homelessness, preventing future cases, and building stronger partnerships with local nonprofits.

Why now?

The decision comes after San Antonio residents identified homeless services as their top budget priority. Data underscores the urgency:

• Since 2019, the number of people experiencing homelessness in the city has risen 23% — from 2,872 to 3,625.

• Although unsheltered homelessness declined between 2020 and 2022, the numbers have since begun to rise again.

The annual point-in-time count — a one-night census of those living in shelters or on the streets — highlights the challenge city leaders are determined to address.

Goals of the new department

While the city has already been involved in clearing encampments and helping people secure housing, officials say the new department will broaden its focus by:

• Enhancing collaboration with nonprofit partners.

• Conducting deeper data analysis to understand the causes and patterns of homelessness.

• Creating long-term strategies to ensure homelessness is “rare, brief, and non-recurring.”

“We have to understand our data better. We have to understand what are the issues that people are facing and then linking people and coordinating to have the right kind of services,” Carmona said.

Looking ahead

By creating a standalone department, San Antonio joins a growing list of major U.S. cities treating homelessness as a top-tier urban challenge requiring sustained focus and dedicated leadership. With the population of unhoused residents climbing and community concern at a high point, the move signals a stronger commitment to both immediate solutions and long-term strategies.

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