The City of Austin has spent the past two years reviewing how park rangers work with the community to create welcoming park spaces. Park Rangers are the main support infrastructure in working with people experiencing homelessness on parkland. They work to connect individuals to services and seek voluntary compliance when appropriate for individuals to find a legal place to camp.
In 2020, Austin’s Park Rangers responded to a request to determine how best to seek voluntary compliance. This peer-to-peer conversation will share that research and the rebuke of adding enforcement capabilities to the current Park Rangers. Facilitators will explain the data collection system used to examine amenity needs and planning within the city’s park system.
