PRESS RELEASE:
A resolution to form a homelessness commission will come before the Public Safety and Neighborhoods Committee at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
The resolution is an outgrowth of a June 26 conference called From This Day Forward: Ending Homelessness in Kansas City, sponsored by the Kansas City Missouri Police Department.
The resolution proposes a 30+-member task force composed of seven City Council members, Police Chief Jim Corwin, civic leaders and legal and social service experts who work with the homeless. The commission’s task will be to draft a 10-year plan to end homelessness, much like other cities have done. If the commission is approved by the full City Council, the plan should be completed by September 2010.
“The commission will study successful programs on homelessness nationwide and will examine existing services in Kansas City to make policy recommendations to city and county governments in this region,” said Dr. George Harris, who served as a co-chair of an earlier homelessness task force.
Since 2007, local United Way 211 calls indicate a 45-percent increase in the need for homelessness prevention services in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Chief Corwin began addressing the issue by facilitating a task force on homelessness beginning in 2007. The task force was composed of law enforcement and leaders of the judiciary, hospitals and homeless shelters.
“The task force was to encourage the development of improved alternative services to people on the streets who are guilty of no crime except poverty,” Dr. Harris said.
That task force planned the June 26 conference and concluded a formal Commission on Homelessness with political support would best be able to recommend policy changes with the goal of eliminating homelessness. That is what is being proposed in Wednesday’s Public Safety and Neighborhoods Committee meeting Wednesday. If approved by the Committee, the creation of a Homelessness Commission would later go up for a vote before the full City Council.
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org
Showing posts with label homelessness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homelessness. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
June 26 conference seeks to end homelessness in Kansas City
PRESS RELEASE:
The Kansas City Missouri Police Department will host a conference June 26 that will explore ways to create systemic change to end homelessness in the Kansas City region.
The conference, titled, “From This Day Forward: Ending Homelessness in Kansas City,” will take place from 9:30 a.m. to noon June 26 at the Kansas City Police Academy, 6885 NE Pleasant Valley Road. Anyone interested in homelessness should attend, including social service personnel and government and elected officials who are interested in helping design a solution to the problem of homelessness in the region.
The video above and on the Kansas City Police Department’s Web site, www.kcpd.org, is called “What is the Cost of Doing Nothing?” It explores the financial impact of letting the problem of homelessness continue as it has been – handled largely by public safety agencies and the judicial system.
“Our mental illness policy in this country has made homelessness a law enforcement problem,” said Evelyn Craig, executive director of reStart Inc. and co-chair of the Homelessness Summit Task Force.
KCPD estimates that it responds to 25 calls a week involving homeless persons. If just one call per week could be eliminated, that could amount to an almost $2 million savings per year, according to the online video. Police Chief James Corwin and other leaders from law enforcement, the judiciary, hospitals, shelters and others have been meeting for more than a year and a half to create a blue-ribbon commission that would sway public policy toward creating solutions that compassionately eliminate homelessness in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area. This conference will be a major step toward that goal.
“The end of homelessness is a lofty but necessary goal for the future vitality of our community,” said Dr. George Harris, co-chair of the Homelessness Summit Task Force. “To end homelessness, it is now clear that there must be an integration and coordination of private and public social service efforts, police, and judicial responses to public policy initiatives.”
The conference will summarize the results of the Kansas City homeless census taken in January, review changes in homeless populations, identify gaps in service, review programs in other cities, discuss police involvement with the homeless and talk about moving from the paradigm of soup kitchens and shelters to treatment and supportive housing.
It also will feature a panel discussion with Municipal Court Judge Joe Locascio, Downtown Council CEO Bill Dietrich, Mayor Mark Funkhouser, Chief Corwin and former city council member Alvin Brooks.
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)