[BoulderCouncilHotline] Homeless Strategy

[Firnhaber, Kurt]

Dear City Council,

In the conversation last night you provided some excellent questions.  One of the questions towards the end focused on where do people go who are camping and shouldn't be?  While I spoke about various services, it is also important to emphasize that people who are experiencing homelessness in our community have  options:


  1.  After attending Coordinated Entry they may go through navigation while staying at 30th street, regardless if SWS is open.  A case manager can work with them to find a housing solution.  Bridge House has done an incredible job of finding these creative solutions both within and outside of our community for hundreds of individuals.
  2.  If the individual has a disability as many chronically homeless individuals do, and they have been living in Boulder, they are referred to housing focused shelter immediately without spending a night of homelessness.  At the north Boulder Shelter a case manager works directly with them.  From there we have been placing from 8-10 individuals a month into permanent supportive housing.  A small subset of individuals who are not able to stay at a shelter have been diverted directly to permanent supportive housing.  It is worth noting that these services are available all year.  With all of this available, people still need to make a choice to services and support.

It has also become apparent to me that some of the new council members have not had a chance to read or understand our Homeless Strategy.  Therefore I am passing this on to you. In late 2016 the City of Boulder convened a community working group comprised of community nonprofits providing homeless services, local government staff and people with lived experience in homelessness. The partners included Mental Health Partners, Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, Boulder Outreach for Homeless Overflow (BOHO) and Bridge House. This working group was charged with developing a new system for adults experiencing homelessness in Boulder and was lead by CSH,<https://www.csh.org/> a nationally known consulting firm helping cities create strategies that work, to address homelessness.

The group completed this work in April 2017 and produced the report linked here<https://www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/CSH_Boulder_report_FINAL-1-201705191621.pdf?_ga=2.67112081.1442473430.1529184679-246858532.1494900698>, recommending a coordinated system focused on housing as the only evidence-based solution to homelessness. The city used this report, as well as additional community data and input to create the City of Boulder Homelessness Strategy<https://www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/COB_-_Homelessness_Strategy_-_Final,_Feb_2019-1-201903130948.pdf?_ga=2.46766759.1457322705.1579672495-1760832585.1537374437>, approved by City Council in June 2017. In October 2017 our city strategy became part of a larger, countywide partnership on homelessness called Homeless Solutions for Boulder County (HSBC).  <https://www.bouldercounty.org/government/boards-and-commissions/boulder-county-regional-homeless-systems-management/> The HSBC Year One Annual Report <https://assets.bouldercounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/hsbc-year-one-annual-report.pdf> explains the first year of results, as well as the importance of the Housing First approach. The documents linked in this paragraph explain the significant work, planning, research and consultation that have guided local homelessness work over the last two+ years. Our staff often get calls from other jurisdictions seeking to replicate our process, as most communities are not as far along as Boulder in developing an effective, evidence-based system with data and results documented and published.

During last night's discussion, I noted significant concern about mental health and substance abuse issues. Mental Health Partners is our community safety net provider for these services, and they have regular hours on site each week at Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, as well as the Bridge House site at 30th Street. MHP is also one of the city's largest grantees through the Human Services Fund. Boulder County has also just completed a behavioral health assessment and will be working with partners across the county to implement recommendations for a more cohesive system of services organized around a behavioral health hub. It is also worth noting that national research demonstrates that stable housing is generally a necessary precursor to individuals making any progress on addressing their mental health and substance abuse issues.  Every month we are refining our programs and exploring best practice approaches to continuously improve the many aspects of this strategy to help people permanently leave homelessness.

I hope that you will have a chance to read the above documents as you think about additional approaches that we should explore in April.


Kurt Firnhaber
Director of Housing and Human Services
[https://bouldercolorado.gov/links/fetch/41501]
O: # 303-441-4424
C: # 303-917-0914
FirnhaberK at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:FirnhaberK at bouldercolorado.gov>

Department of Housing & Human Services
1300 Canyon Blvd  Boulder, CO 80302

Bouldercolorado.gov<https://www.bouldercolorado.gov/>



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