Government
BY BEN THOMPSON
Nearly two dozen people experiencing homelessness are dying in an average month in Austin and Travis County. Their life expectancy is years shorter than the area population as a whole, according to new reporting from the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, or ECHO. It’s the closest look yet at area homeless mortality given historically lacking data on that community, ECHO Healthcare Systems Manager Danica Fraher said. “If we continue to not include mortality data in our systems planning, people are going to continue to die preventable deaths,” she said. At least 1,010 homeless people died from 2018-23. That total is likely an undercount given limitations related to the data. Homeless deaths rising in Austin
Zooming in
Deaths in local homeless community Hundreds of homeless people recently died on the streets or in medical facilities. Death on the street Reported by medical examiner and hospital Death in the hospital
Overdoses were the leading cause of death, with a surge in drug-related fatalities beginning in 2021 with more fentanyl in the community, Fraher said. Transportation-related accidents and cardiovascular disease were the next-most common reasons. The ECHO report recommended new housing and shelter, improving community-based health care, new harm reduction spaces, and better tracking of mortality trends. Austin Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray said the new information laid out the “unfortunate reality” faced by homeless clients and service providers, and the importance of available interventions. He said the city has made progress in some areas like housing construction and shelter access, and that policies and programs remain under review this year.
300 200 100 0
2018
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
NOTE: DEATHS CAN APPEAR IN BOTH MEDICAL EXAMINER AND HOSPITAL RECORDS IF SOMEONE IS BROUGHT TO A HEALTH CARE CENTER AND DIES WITHIN 24 HOURS.
Manner of deaths
Accident: 73.4%
Homicide: 1.1% Suicide: 6.7% Natural cause: 18.8%
NOTE: INCLUDES ONLY DEATHS REPORTED TO THE MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE.
SOURCE: ENDING COMMUNITY HOMELESSNESS COALITION/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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