Chicago to merge migrant New Arrivals shelter program with state homeless system

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Major changes were announced on Monday to Chicago's New Arrivals mission, with winter around the corner.

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Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the program for migrants and homeless citizens will be downsizing in the new year.

"So, we are now able to shift from a large-scale crisis response to a more cost effective, equitable and strategic approach that addresses homelessness for all who need support," he said. "This is about what I said that I would do was create a one-shelter initiative that will allow us to respond to homelessness, period, whether you have just arrived or whether you've been here for some time, and you're down on your luck."

Migrants have different needs than Chicago's homeless population, volunteers said of the mayor's new plan Monday.

The changes will be seen from the number of beds available to shelter eviction policies.

The flow of asylum seekers coming to Chicago has slowed considerably in recent months.

The city will move to a "One System Initiative" for addressing the problem of homelessness starting Jan. 1, 2025.

During the past two years, nearly 50,000 asylum seekers have come to Chicago, but now the city is shifting what once was a crisis response mode into a longer term plan for addressing homelessness in general.

Starting Nov. 1, the resources for new arrivals will become very limited.

Extensions for people in shelters will be eliminated.

RELATED: Chicago to close Little Village migrant shelter, state says

Beginning Jan. 1, the city will have a total of 6,800 shelter beds for anyone experiencing homelessness, and, in that system, there will no longer be an exit policy.

It's still not clear how they will determine who gets the available shelter beds.

Johnson said the city will remain over 4,000 beds short to accommodate all experiencing homelessness.

"What we have appropriated in this budget is what we can do right now, and you know I made a commitment that we want to invest in people," he said.

This phase will demobilize the New Arrivals operation by the end of 2024 and initiate the first phase of a full transition to the One System Initiative in 2025.

The new plan is driven by several factors: fewer asylum seekers coming to Chicago and financial considerations, but mostly the goal of making the treatment of the unhoused equitable for all and not having different categories of those in need.

Chicago is currently caring for 5,000 migrants at 13 different shelters across the city.

The city's total shelter capacity for unhoused people, including migrants and those already in Chicago, is currently 8,000 beds.

"So, you're looking at about 1,200 people who won't have beds, and to try to figure out what's next for them is a bit of the concern, and having the right capacity for the need," said 40th Ward Ald. Andre Vasquez, chair of the committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Vasquez said the city is clearly sending a message to asylum seekers crossing the southern broader that resources are being curtailed, and that coming to Chicago might not be the best idea.

"So, I think it's absolutely fair and sincere to just put that out there so that people aren't making the decisions, thinking that there's more resources than there are, and then finding that they're not there," he said.

Starting Jan. 1, anyone experiencing homelessness will have to call 311, and those in need will be placed in a shelter on a first come, first served basis.

"There will not be a shelter exit policy. So, in the legacy system, there is not an exit date. So, people will be allowed to stay in the system," said Commissioner Brandie Knazze, with Family and Support Services.

By relying on 311, migrant mutual aid groups are concerned new arrivals will be left out in the cold.

"I think we need to build some trust in 311 because that system is really inadequate for dealing with the unhoused population here in Chicago," said Annie Gomberg, a Migrant Mutual Aid volunteer.

Regardless, Gomberg supports the mayor's one shelter system, calling it a more equitable approach, but Gomberg and others are worried because migrants and Chicago's homeless population have radically different needs.

"Our existing homelessness, homeless population has myriad needs that need to be addressed through social services, addiction counseling, all kinds of things that are different from our annual arrivals population," Gomberg said. "I think that we are nervous because these are different populations that have radically different needs."

This year, the city budgeted $150 million for migrant care, but the mayor would not say how much he will budget for next year.

That will be better understood when Johnson releases his budget on Oct. 30.

While the city faces a big deficit, Johnson said he plans a big ask of City Council to financially support the new plan.

Johnson repeatedly blasted the business community for helping defeat his Bring Chicago Home initiative, which was projected to raise $100 million to combat homelessness.

"Unfortunately, those scare tactics have put us in this position now, where we are doing everything that we can afford," he said.

Changes to Chicago's migrant program include the following:

- Elimination of the 30-day shelter extensions based on the "Public Benefit enrollment" extension for anyone currently in the New Arrivals shelter system or newly entering into the system.

- Limiting first-time shelter placement at the Landing Zone to New Arrival families and singles that have been in the country for 30 days or less

- Changing the hours of the Landing Zone to reflect state Intake Center hours: 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. by Nov. 1, 2024

- Closing the Landing Zone and the state of Illinois intake center by Dec. 31, 2024.

- Implementing a shelter decompression schedule to meet the budgeted target of 2,100 city-funded beds by the end of 2024.