Johnson unveils new 5-year blueprint to address homelessness, eliminates chief homelessness officer role

Mayor Brandon Johnson released a new five-year plan to address homelessness in Chicago.

The timing is raising some eyebrows, as the mayor just announced he's eliminating Chicago's chief homelessness officer just two years after creating the position. 

Johnson said the position was temporary, but when the chief homelessness officer was first appointed, she told CBS News Chicago that her role was funded for three years, not two.

So, what happened and what's next?

The blueprint to target homelessness includes 126 pages detailing goals for the next five years.

Standouts from this final draft? The seven main strategy areas—emergency services, housing, health, education, employment, community cohesion, and systems alignment. Emphasizing coordination across city departments.

The plan calls out "shifts in federal policy" and "funding threats," but some of those funding questions, now, are entirely local, with the city eliminating the chief homelessness officer position, created by Mayor Brandon Johnson a year early. A position and a more than $170,000 yearly salary, funded by a grant from the Chicago Funders Together to End Homelessness.

Sendy Soto spoke with CBS News Chicago after the position was established in 2024. At the time, she said her position was personal. A spokesperson for the mayor's office said in a statement:

After two years of service to the Johnson Administration, and following significant work leading the development of the City of Chicago's 5-Year Blueprint on Homelessness, Sendy Soto will transition from her role as Chief of Homelessness upon the completion and launch of the Blueprint. Her final day with the City will be April 2. To support continuity and the Blueprint's implementation, Jonah Anderson, First Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, will assume a dual appointment as Director of the Mayor's Office of Homelessness.

"If there's anything I love doing? It's to be extremely honest and transparent," she said.

The only word from her now? Soto said in a statement that she's grateful for the opportunity.

As I transition out of the Mayor's Office, I am grateful for the opportunity and trust Mayor Johnson vested in me to advance the critical work to address and end homelessness in Chicago. I want to thank those in the Mayor's Office, City Departments, Sister Agencies and the many community partners and residents who contributed their time and dedication to the completion of the Five-Year Blueprint on Homelessness.

Johnson, during his media availability on Tuesday, answered why the role is being eliminated a year early.

"My administration never made a commitment to an amount of time for this particular office, and what we're excited about is she was obviously able to do it in less than three years," he said.

Johnson said the work, related to this plan, is already happening and that "it doesn't mean that the work has ended." However, the group that made it possible for the last two years said otherwise.

The Chicago funders Together to End Homelessness, in a statement, said the role was meant to be in place through October 2026, and their final grant payment to the city is still pending. Going on to say the goal was always for the role to become permanent and city-funded.

Johnson said another city executive will oversee the blueprint's implementation. 

"First deputy mayor for health and human services Jonah Anderson will assume a dual appointment as director of the mayor's office of homelessness," he said.

The organization that was funding the chief homelessness officer position also invested $400,000 into the establishment of Chicago's blueprint five-year plan to target homelessness.