After two years and half a billion dollars spent, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Monday that the city's migrant mission would effectively end Dec. 31. The city's migrant shelter system will close as we know it, and both migrants and Chicagoans experiencing homelessness will have to compete for available bed space under an umbrella system designed to address housing needs for anyone in need.
Johnson's announcement marked the start of the "One System Initiative," a city-designed plan that has been in the works for months. Under the transition, anyone with housing needs will have compete for 6,800 available beds, down from 15,000 during the height of the migrant crisis. Currently, there are more than 5,000 people in the city’s migrant shelter system.
Johnson said the new plan will provide a more "equitable and cost-effective" approach to finding housing for those in need.
Mayor Johnson’s announcement Monday came less than two weeks before the anticipated release of his spending plan. The city is currently facing a projected $1 billion budget shortfall.
Since August 2022, more than 50,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago. More than 5,000 are currently in the city's shelters.
To date, the city has spent more than $541 million on the migrant mission, with $308 million going to Kansas-based Favorite Healthcare Staffing, a private company whose contract with the city runs through April of next year.
When asked by NBC 5 Investigates if the timing of Monday's announcement was driven by the city's impending deficit, Johnson said, "We’re doing it because it's the right thing to do. It's the right thing to do. We will get to the financial ramifications of it, but I want people to know we stand up for our values."
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NBC 5 Investigates was first to report last month that Johnson approved a $100 million contract extension for Favorite. At the time, Johnson side-stepped our questions saying that the city had saved taxpayers $200 million by re-negotiating Favorite's contract and relinquishing control of two shelters to different providers. His office later emailed a statement saying the pay increase for Favorite was due to backpay owed to the company.
When pressed by another reporter about the timing of this decision and if people could end up on the streets, Johnson acknowledged that money played a role.
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"The harsh reality is that we can do what we can afford. We've been stressed to the limits," Johnson told reporters.
Among the major changes under the transition plan:
- The city will eliminate 30-day shelter extensions based on the "Public Benefit enrollment" extension that's currently available.
- Limit first-time shelter placement at the Landing Zone to only those families and single people who have been in the country less than 30 days.
- Reducing hours at the Landing Zone to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. starting on Nov. 1.
- Closing the Landing Zone and the state-run intake center on Dec. 31.
Starting in the new year, those needing housing will be required to call 311.
A lot of variables remain unknown. It's not clear how much additional 311 staffing will be necessary or budgeted for under the transition plan. Deputy Mayor of Immigrant and Migrant Services Beatriz Ponce de Leon told NBC 5 Investigates that the plan is to move away from Favorite Healthcare Staffing as they transition shelter operations to other providers.
It's not clear who those contracts would be awarded to.
It's not clear how that would work as Favorite has a contract with the city through April of next year.
A spokeswoman for Favorite said she was checking.
