[BoulderCouncilHotline] 10/20 City Council Meeting - Item 5A Budget - Additional SAMPS Evaluation and Metrics Information

[Taddeucci, Joe]

Dear Council Members and Hotline followers,

At the October 6 first reading of the 2023 Budget, staff received various feedback around the request to support additional resources for our Safe and Managed Public Spaces (SAMPS) work. In particular, there were questions about how we plan to evaluate the various programs and what specific metrics we were thinking of using that go beyond our traditional outputs (like amount of trash collected) to those that are more people-focused (such as how many people have been connected to services through this work). In addition, we received a question as to how this program integrates with the overall homelessness strategy.

When the SAMPS team was created in 2021, the primary goal was to ensure that the city’s public spaces are safe and enjoyable for all who use them, including people experiencing homelessness. Acknowledging the need to prioritize the work, the team set about creating a prioritization matrix that focused on sanitation and safety concerns for both our natural resources as well as individuals who could be at risk. They also developed the following long-term, aspirational goals that would subsequently have metrics attached to each one so we could effectively measure the progress made on each one of these goals:


  1.  No unsanctioned camping in public spaces
  2.  Individuals experiencing homelessness are connected to services
  3.  Access to public space and public infrastructure is not impeded
  4.  Reduction in crime and disorder in designated areas of emphasis
  5.  Visitors have access to knowledgeable resources on city services
  6.  Maintenance crews are able to safely access critical infrastructure in public spaces
  7.  Waterways are free of contamination
  8.  Users of public space report feeling safe and welcome

This work is being further refined as the team is developing the strategies and actions that work toward each goal along with appropriate outcome measures. This work has not been completed, but a draft sample is included below. Please note that this information is provided to illustrate the work being untaken, and it is subject to change and expansion as the work continues and as we continue to receive feedback from Council. The team plans on providing Council more robust information at its next update, tentatively scheduled for February 2023.

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As you see from the sample above, staff too sees that there are areas where this work intersects with our overall homelessness strategy. Goal 2 specifically is focused on this very intersectionality as it endeavors to connect people to and support our overall homelessness system. Operations and outreach workers across the entire multi-disciplinary SAMPS team capitalize on opportunities to connect people living unhoused to services with every interaction, and measures for successful connection to homelessness services are reflected under Goal 2.

The recent conversations about this topic during Council ride-alongs and at the Council meeting highlight our continuing need to better reflect the purpose and measures of success for all our work, and we commit to continuing to develop programs and enhancing metrics to more specifically reflect the intersection of our SAMPS work to our overall the homelessness strategy. Specifically, while each team continues to have its own unique focus - one on sanitation, safety and access for all with the other focused on services and housing – proposed approaches going forward will look for innovative programmatic opportunities to make connection to services as efficient and effective as possible. Metrics of success will necessarily continue to be refined to reflect the degree to which the city 1) takes advantage of and/or creates opportunities to connect people to services, and 2) enhances the safety and enjoyability of public spaces for all.

Again, we hope to have a more robust conversation about this in Q1 next year as we continue our pilot and work to more effectively track and measure progress towards our goals. In the meantime, team representatives will be available at tomorrow's council meeting to support the discussion as it relates to the second reading of the city budget.


Sincerely,



Joe


Joe Taddeucci, P.E.
Director of Utilities
(pronouns: He/Him/His) What's This?<https://www.mypronouns.org/what-and-why>

[cid:ab40d782-aa42-43a0-800f-24c1a7eb800a]

C: # (720) 635-6970

taddeuccij at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:lastnamef at bouldercolorado.gov>

Public Works - Utilities Department
1739 Broadway | Boulder, CO 80302
bouldercolorado.gov<https://bouldercolorado.gov/>

<http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/>
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