CHICAGO (WLS) — Major changes were announced on Monday to Chicago’s New Arrivals mission.
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Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the program for migrants and homeless citizens will be downsizing in the new year.
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 a “One System Initiative” for addressing the problem of homelessness starting January 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 November 1st, the resources for new arrivals will become very limited.
Extensions for people in shelters will be eliminated.
Beginning January 1st, 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.
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.
Changes 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, to 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 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.
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