City briefings show regular meetings with outside policy groups as No Wrong Door's legislative plans took shape. What the council was told

Questions about who helped shape Austin's No Wrong Door program came back this week. An Austin Current report published Nov. 9 cites city calendar briefings prepared for the mayor's office. They describe repeated meetings between city staff and two outside policy groups, the Cicero Institute and the Texas Public Policy Foundation, while the city prepared state legislation tied to the program.

No Wrong Door launched in April. It coordinates police, EMS, health care and homeless services for the people who cycle most often through jails, emergency rooms and the streets. More than a dozen partners have signed on.

What the documents say

According to the Current:

• A January briefing referred to "monthly meetings" among the city's Homeless Strategy Office, Cicero and the Texas Public Policy Foundation on "shared legislative opportunities."
• A March briefing described outreach to both groups as the city prepared bills to expand emergency mental health detention authority, improve transfers between providers and add treatment capacity.
• A briefing listed an early May meeting on No Wrong Door legislative planning with both groups.

Cicero, founded by tech investor Joe Lonsdale, has favored involuntary treatment over the "housing first" approach and has pushed camping bans, the Current reported. Cicero told the outlet it had no role in planning or shaping the program beyond meeting with the city. It also said the program "appears to be more successful than the haphazard approach it replaced."

Government Relations Director Carrie Rogers told the Current that the group did not help develop the program and that meeting with groups that hold different views is a "matter of practice." She said the city's legislative requests for No Wrong Door will stay largely the same after last week's election. Council Member Mike Siegel told the outlet the city should "collaborate with people who are on the ground." The Current reported that critics say the city left out groups including the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance and Vocal-TX, along with criminal defense attorneys.

What our records add

The council asked about this on Oct. 6. At that work session, Siegel said people had raised with his office "a contradiction" between the council's endorsement of housing first and Cicero's opposition to it. He asked whether the city would clarify to legislators that it was not seeking a post-adjudication structure. Rogers said the legislative items were "dynamic" and that "there is nothing set."

Following up on an earlier question from Council Member Zohaib "Zo" Qadri, Siegel said her team had been meeting with Cicero, "including about No Wrong Door." Rogers described one meeting "back in September". She said the Texas Public Policy Foundation reached out to a homelessness strategy staff member, she was invited, and Cicero attended. "There have been conversations as needed," she said, including around legislative testimony that summer. Asked whether the city still sought to lower the legal bar for involuntary psychiatric commitment, she said no: "It has never been a part of our legislative program."

The Current's documents describe meetings starting by January, more than the one meeting Rogers described at the dais. We have not seen the briefings themselves.

The council added oversight on Oct. 22. The council adopted a resolution without objection requiring quarterly reports, a community advisory group, and a sub-quorum of council members to guide legislative goals. Our story on that vote has the details.

The city's state wish list. An Oct. 22 Government Relations memo listed seven proposals for the 2027 session, including psychiatric bed capacity, data sharing and funding for a Central Texas crisis center.

What's next

The Legislature convenes in January. Under the Oct. 22 resolution, the council's quarterly No Wrong Door reports must include legislative updates, and a council sub-quorum is to guide the city's goals.