[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: Summary of Human Services Strategy Study Sessio May 13, 2014 - Item 3B

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Rahn, Karen


Macon,
 
The following information might be helpful regarding some of the issues raised. The city and county of Broomfield does provide extensive human services however the web site
 might not be easy to navigate. A link is provided 
here which helps get you to that site. 
 
(http://www.broomfield.org/index.aspx?nid=260)
 
With regard to Broomfield referring clients to EFAA—EFAA, among other non-profits such as Mental Health Partners and SPAN (Safehouse) provide services in Boulder and Broomfield
 Counties. EFAA may receive funding from the city and county of Broomfield County to provide services to homeless families, which is why they might be referring families to EFAA. EFAA also provides services in the city of Lafayette, in close proximity to Broomfield
 C/C.  
 
With regard to what homeless services Broomfield provides, we will follow up on that.  They are a party to the HOME Consortium also, which the city of Boulder is the administrator.
 They receive HOME funds for affordable housing.
 
It might not have been explicitly stated in the SS Summary, but staff were clear there was a follow up item related to gathering  more information on who the homeless are
 who are here where they came from.  We are in the process of assessing the best and most effective manner to do this to get reliable information.

 
We will try and gather information over the next few weeks to address your question on policies and practices that of other communities that impact Boulder. It might not
 be comprehensive by study session, but we can also continue to gather the information and provide post study session.

 
Lease let me know if you need any additional information.

 
 

Karen Rahn
Director, Human Services Department
City of Boulder
P.O. Box 791, Boulder, Colorado 80306
1101 Arapahoe 2nd floor, Boulder, Colorado 80302
303-441-3161 direct
720-289-1745 mobile
 

 


From: Cowles, Macon

Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2014 11:20 AM
To: Brautigam, Jane; Rahn, Karen
Cc: HOTLINE
Subject: Summary of Human Services Strategy Study Sessio May 13, 2014 - Item 3B


 
Dear Jane and Karen:

 


Council was clear at the Study Session that Boulder needs to generate a regional response to Homelessness, as we cannot alone provide housing and services sufficient to address the need. That Boulder is already devoting substantially more
 resources than other communities can be seen in the data in Attachments B and C of the Summary of the Study Session. We spend 3 X as much as Longmont, 6 X as much as Ft. Collins, and 17 X to 35 X as much as Lafayette, Louisville, Arvada, Westminster and Colorado
 Springs. Many cities, including Superior, spend nothing to address the needs of people who are Homeless.

 

The need for regional collaboration to address Homelessness was well captured in the Summary of the May 13 Study Session. 


 


What I do not think was well captured was the additional focused information requested by Council on May 13: namely, 1) more detailed information about people who are Homeless based on interviews and meetings, and 2) did people become Homeless elsewhere
 and then move to Boulder, or did they become Homeless while already residents of Boulder or nearby communities? In asking this question, I believe Council understood that this would take both skill and time to develop credible information.

 


The information about what other communities spend on services for Homeless people is very useful. But some communities have policies or practices that export the burden of providing services to the Homeless onto other communities in ways
 that are not expressed in their budgets. Additional information that would be helpful for the Study Session and to lay the groundwork for regional cooperation would be to specify what other communities do to shift the burden associated with Homelessness to
 other jurisdictions--in ways that would not be reflected in their budgets. At the CML conference in Breckenridge in June, an employee of the Brighton City Manager's office informed me that Brighton transports Homeless people from Brighton to other cities that
 do provide services for the Homeless.


 


Broomfield, even though it is a county, devotes barely a page of its website to social services. A search of its website on the word Homeless brings up the following at http://www.broomfield.org/faq.aspx?qid=201


 



I am homeless, where can I get shelter assistance?

There are no shelters in Broomfield; however, if you are a family with children, you may contact the Emergency Family Assistance Association at 303.442.3042. The United Way of Denver
 (Mile High United Way) also has current information of available shelter space in the Denver metro area. You may access their referral service by dialing 2-1-1.

 



So there are specific directions, such as Broomfield's, that Homeless people should seek help in Boulder or Denver, whereas other jurisdictions like Brighton take action not embodied in policy that also shifts responsibility to other jurisdictions.
 It would be helpful in August to have more information about these policies and practices.


 


Thanks very much.


 







Macon Cowles


Boulder City Council Member





1726 Mapleton Ave.





Boulder, Colorado 80304


CowlesM at bouldercolorado.gov


(303) 447-3062


(303) 638-6884