COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho -- Homelessness in northern Idaho's Kootenai County costs taxpayers some $6.5 million annually for social and government services, according to a recently completed draft plan aimed at addressing the problem in the region over the next decade.
The document has been in the works for more than a year.
Mike Kennedy, a Coeur d'Alene city councilman, says now he aims to get surrounding communities involved.
The struggle with addressing homelessness was highlighted last October, when law-enforcement officials in Coeur d'Alene gave about two dozen homeless people just a day to clear out of "Hobo Alley," a makeshift camp for the destitute on the outskirts of town.
According to the city's new plan, homelessness in the region is getting worse, not better, due to the current state of both the national and local economy.
"It is a critical issue," said Jim Brannon, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of North Idaho. "People who are hungry, who don't have adequate shelter, don't have much of a life. The city has taken the right approach to addressing the issue."
The plan estimates there are 639 homeless people in the county.
According to the plan, the city should adopt a program of "Housing First," a national model that's found success in other communities; create a so-called "one-stop-shop" to coordinate services to help people who are struggling and to keep them from becoming homeless; and work with businesses, nonprofit agencies, churches and local government to make sure that people on the brink of losing their homes don't fall through the safety net.
"Organizations working on the problem must communicate and collaborate better than they are currently doing," according to an executive summary of the city's plan.
Late last year, "Hobo Alley" made local headlines after several fires prompted police to remove homeless people who had adopted a narrow strip of tree-filled private land between a University of Idaho branch center and a main traffic thoroughfare as a makeshift camp.
Since then, however, the dour economy has only made the problem more grave, Kennedy said.
Even though police often intervene only when there's a problem, including litter left alongside busy streets by panhandlers, theft, trespassing and nuisance complaints, many homeless people do not cause trouble, said Coeur d'Alene Police Capt. Steve Childers.
The plan will help deal with a wide variety of individuals and conditions, Childers said, and while completely eliminating homelessness is the goal, that is unlikely.
"There are individuals we see, that is their lifestyle," he said.
seattlepi.com
No comments:
Post a Comment