McKinney officials have taken another step toward approving a new plan that aims to help address homelessness in the city.
What you need to know
The strategic plan was created as part of the city’s Better Together initiative, which aims to help address symptoms and root causes of homelessness in McKinney. McKinney City Council members are expected to consider a final version of the strategic plan and implementation plan in December, according to a staff presentation.
A draft version of the plan is available on the city’s website. It includes eight goals that were developed based on a completed needs assessment and community feedback. Margaret Li, McKinney's housing and community development director, said project leaders have collected feedback from stakeholders while identifying different goals and strategies.
“For the last six months we’ve done a deep dive into understanding the challenges and opportunities associated with homelessness in the community,” Li said.
A closer look
McKinney partnered with the University of Texas at Dallas to gather community feedback, complete a needs assessment and develop the strategic plan, according to city documents. UTD professor Teodoro Benavides reviewed the strategic plan’s goals during a Nov. 3 McKinney City Council work session, which include:
Prevent homelessness and housing instability
Increase economic stability and self-sufficiency
Expand shelter options across the homelessness continuum
Establish a coordinated regional homelessness response system
Create a low-barrier navigation system
Strengthen behavioral health and crisis response
Optimize community safety and encampment response
Build sustainable community capacity and investment
The implementation plan will define specific action steps, timelines, required resources and performance targets, according to Benavides’ presentation. Goals one and seven were identified as early priorities for the implementation plan based on community input.
“It’s important that the strategic plan tells us which way the community wants to go,” Benavides said. “The implementation plan that will come next tells us how we’re going to get there.”
More information
McKinney saw a year-over-year increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness, according to results from the 2026 annual Point-in-Time count. The count, which was conducted in January, identified 240 individuals experiencing homelessness compared to 213 individuals who were identified the previous year.
The PIT count results were reviewed during an annual homelessness update during the same work session. The PIT count is conducted on a single night, Li said.
“This is an important tool for us but it only provides us with a snapshot and does not capture everyone that is experiencing homelessness,” she said.
