RezoneOKC

In 2007, Mayor Cornett set up the Mayor’s Homelessness Action Task Force, with members including (among others) Brett Hamm, Ann Simank, Chip Fudge, Greg Banta, Russel Claus, and Richard Tanenbaum. There was good representation from the city and from property owners.

The team was supposed to look into the problem basically in light of the billions of dollars of investments that have changed downtown. More people live, work, and spend time downtown- so more people are aware of homelessness in the city.

As Oklahoma City continues its emergence as a city with national visibility, the elimination of chronic homelessness is well within our capabilities.

Here are a few of the major recommendations that were made in the September 2007 report.

1. Coordinated System

The issue is that some resources are overwhelmed while others are underutilized. Most of the homeless service providers are independent entities without a coordinating body. The issue is being addressed by the development of WestTown (see Part 1) and, at the time of the report, a “dream team” that would coordinate efforts of service providers.

2. Develop 1000 Housing First Units

The “Housing First” model revolves around the idea that the home itself is the most central part of recovery for any homeless person, whether the problem is financial or substance abuse related. After placing the client in an apartment, further assistance is offered. The report said there were only 180 units already available. Ideally, the units are “scattered site,” meaning the clients are not all herded into the same place downtown, but spread around at locations around the metro.

Above all, the Housing First approach would mean we could switch from an “emergency shelter strategy” to a “rapid re-housing strategy” that would better serve people.

3. Sustainable Public Transportation for the Homeless

The Homeless Alliance offers the H.net Express, a privately funded bus that is free for homeless people that connects them to shelters and service providers. The task force hoped that MetroTransit would be able to help support the H.net Express.

4. Collaborate with Law Enforcement

A recommendation was to add more “Crisis Intervention Team” trained officers, who are able to deal with situations involving “mentally ill and intoxicated” people. Additionally, these CIT officers would connect the homeless individual involved to services rather than taking him to jail.

5. Relocate homeless services

Efforts should be directed at concentrating homeless services outside of the downtown core. Indirectly this would relocate the homeless population and divert negative behaviors, which tend to be prominent in areas where homeless services are abundant and where the primary needs of the homeless can be met.

The task force recommends that a day service center be located “outside of and sufficiently buffered from the downtown redevelopment area.” Probably they are referring to WestTown at 3rd and Virginia, about one and a half miles from the Arts District.

The task force also focused on other service providers in the area like the Salvation Army, which they noted is in the Core to Shore planning area. They note that the Salvation Army and other service providers in or near Core to Shore would be encouraged to relocate somewhere else.

The suggestions of the Mayor’s Homelessness Action Task Force are well thought out and generally rely on examples from other cities’ successful programs. They focus first on reducing homelessness, and second on putting homelessness a little bit more out of sight from our ritzy new downtown.

It is the latter that could cause controversy and I do think it sounds crass to suggest homeless people should just be pushed over to 3rd and Virginia where downtowners won’t be bothered by them. If this is the direction that the city elects to move toward, I would hope that it wouldn’t end up being a “swept under the rug” issue- maybe high visibility in a new downtown is the only way we can get enough popular awareness to fight against homelessness.

The following quote from the task force’s report assures me that priorities are in order:

Reducing homelessness, particularly street homelessness, will require serious, focused, ongoing collaboration between all service providers and funding sources. Any effort to reduce the negative impacts of homelessness should also recognize the value of preventive measures over short-term attempts to simply relocate the problem.

If you’d like to read the full text of the MHATF Report, I have put it on my server here (opens as PDF file).

Homelessness and Downtown Series
Part 1: Current Initiatives
Part 2: Mayor’s Homelessness Action Task Force
Part 3: Homelessness Solutions Elsewhere