OKC Homeless Task Force breaks down plans to address city's homeless population
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — The City of Oklahoma City is asking for the public’s input on how to address its homeless population.
In 2019, Mayor David Holt formed a Task Force on Homelessness in hopes to develop a plan to prevent and reduce homelessness in the city.
IN a 118-page report released in June 2021, the task force, along with key stakeholders, broke down its strategies to begin to combat the problem.
“Rapid growth throughout OKC and a more visible homeless population led City leadership to realize the essential need to increase the effectiveness of OKC’s homeless services system,” the report said. “The City of Oklahoma City contracted with the research firm Analytic Insight, LLC (AI) to work with the Task Force to develop the strategy to make homelessness in the community brief, rare and nonrecurring.AI designed the methodology that included interviews with 45 key stakeholders,and12 strategic planning sessions with a wide variety of service providers, service recipients and other stakeholders who shared ideas and recommended strategies. Additionally, AI conducted an analysis of the service network as well as data from the CoC’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) database.”
Oklahoma City’s 2020 Point-in-Time Count revealed 1,573 people were experiencing homelessness compared to 1,273 in 2019.
In 2020, 557 people were considered unsheltered.
Dan Straughan, executive director of the Homeless Alliance, said those numbers could grow even bigger by the end of this month.
“As you know, the eviction moratorium that the CDC put in place is scheduled to end June 30,” Straughan said. “Legal Aid is in the estimating that in Oklahoma County alone 20,000 households are at risk of eviction after June 30. That's not 20,000 individuals, it's 20,000 households. So maybe 60,000 people. We have 850 shelter beds in Oklahoma City. So, there is some urgency to addressing this.”
Straughan said according to a Cost of Homelessness study that was done in Oklahoma City a few years ago, an unsheltered person experiencing homelessness costs the city about $9,500 a year.
“An unsheltered homeless person costs the city and emergency room, law enforcement, EMS, fire department and other crisis centers about $9,500, a year, per person,” Straughan said. “If we can house that person and provide wraparound services, that's about $5,500 per year, per person. So almost half. So, in some ways. If we can implement all these things, this report will actually make money in the end because we'll be saving so much.”
According to the task force report, housing ranks number one on its list, followed by focusing on things like mental health services, case management, substance abuse treatment and transportation.
“We kind of know what the answers are, you know, it's housing and mental health care and substance abuse treatment and criminal justice reform and educational attainment and addressing poverty issues and access to primary health care. And many of those things, there's movement on already, and it's going to be a question of the mayor, sort of bringing those things together,” Straughan said.
Straughan said a survey was done to ask those experiencing homelessness what their top priorities are when in comes to getting help. He said jobs and housing were at the top of their list.
Cross the Line Ministries works with those experiencing homelessness on a daily basis, along with many other organizations and groups in the city.
Cross the Line Ministries said they are not part of the task force, but after reviewing the report, they believe the city’s priorities need to be reorganized.
“Obviously millions of dollars have been thrown at the homeless problem for quite some time, right? And we haven’t had any real solution or no real movement. If anything, the homeless population is getting worse instead of better. If you think about that, that’s with actual millions of dollars being thrown at the problem. Our group, Cross the Line Ministries does actual good old-fashioned discipleship. That’s it. Or mentorship,” Valerie Ratliff said. If we don’t mentor each and every one of these individual people off the street, they’re not going to stay off the street.”
Ratliff said the city first needs affordable, sober living and drug houses before a person would transition into a housing complex.
“What happens when you put a bunch of people with mental health drug and alcohol issues, and people that even didn't have those issues when they hit the street together in a facility in a big housing complex? You multiply it,” Ratliff said.
She said right now, in order to get treatment for mental health, drug addiction and alcoholism, a person experiencing homelessness would need between $150-$250 a week.
“If you have a drug or alcohol problem and you’re on the street and you say, ‘Hey, I’m ready to stop this problem, I want to go get help,’ well, you don’t have any money. You’re on the street. How are you going to do that? Who is going to help you do that? Nobody,” Ratliff said. “That would be a first key element. Next, there are people who will employ you if you are homeless to get off the street. But tell me how are you going to get there? How are you going to get there? You need working bus passes, right? You need working bus passes.
She said next, jobs and transportation should be moved up on the list.
“We have to address actual jobs for the homeless and we have to address transportation to get them there,” Ratliff said.
Ratliff said Cross the Line Ministries said while the city and many organizations are doing great work, it must focus on the current homeless population and the next to come.
“You can't address homelessness if you don't address those in line to be homeless, which is generational poverty. That's something that our group is working hard on right now. We're spending 50% of the time on homelessness and 50% of the time on prevention,” Ratliff said.
Cross the Line Ministries said awareness is the first step in making a change to reduce the homeless population and seeing the city create a task force is a step in the right direction.
“I'm proud to see that our city is addressing the issue. You know, we may not all have the perfect answers the perfect solutions, but like I said earlier, the wheels are turning, and good things are going to happen,” Ruby Garcia said, member of Cross the Line Ministries.
The city is accepting input from the public until July 7.
To submit ideas, click here.
After the deadline, the report will be submitted to city council who can approve or make changes to the report before beginning to implement changes.
The report shows its plan could take several years to complete.
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