City: Homeless street outreach program could start this summer

A team trained to engage with people on the streets could begin work in downtown Sioux Falls as soon as this summer.

That’s if the City Council approves adding $250,000 to its budget for this year to support a street team outreach program, a recommendation of the homeless task force that met last year.

The group looked at what can be done differently to help individuals who have started to congregate on the east end of downtown and elsewhere, council member Rich Merkouris said at the council’s Tuesday informational meeting.

“It’s not going to happen unless we’re really intentional with it,” he said.

It’s a particularly timely conversation given efforts to redevelop land dubbed the Riverline District, east of the viaduct and going toward Cliff Avenue, he said.

“If we’re going to co-exist together as downtown develops all the way to Cliff Avenue, we’ve got to have some really intentional programming of how we’re going to co-exist together between businesses and restaurants and a homeless shelter right next door,” Merkouris said. “That happens in big cities all across the country.”

A street team would be trained to help connect individuals on the streets with support services available in the city. The task force looked at similar efforts in communities ranging in size from Denver to Rapid City.

If the budget is approved, it would fund the first year of a two-year pilot program. The city would issue a request for proposals in late March or early April with the goal of contracting with an organization by summer.

A 2022 count found about 400 people experiencing homelessness within the city of Sioux Falls.

“We’ve been working on figuring out how do we actually do this. What makes sense for Sioux Falls? What is the scope of the problem?” said Jenna Harris, the policy adviser to Mayor Paul TenHaken.

“It’s about meeting people experiencing homelessness where they are and helping them connect to services, providing resources, making sure they have some kind of connection to those resources available and also tracking some of that with the Helpline Network of Care.”

There are potential individuals and organizations in the community who could fill such a role, she said.

“We’ve been working with some experts in the field, some folks in the community that are doing this kind of work, so we’re pretty confident we’ll get some good response from that RFP if and when it goes out,” Harris said.

Police Chief Jon Thum praised the idea, calling it the first time in his 18-year law enforcement career that kind of proactive approach has been taken “toward some of the issues we’re facing from anything other than law enforcement.”

Thum called it a timely, relevant response that also addresses public health issues such as substance abuse.

“We have only a few tools in our tool bag. This opens up our tool bag to allow a lot more opportunity to deal with root causes but also look at the complexities of not only the Dudley neighborhood but Pettigrew Heights, and it allows us to evolve and change as new issues arise,” Thum said.

The street team would be overseen by the city’s Health Department.

“It’s really about intervention and a proactive approach to the challenge of homelessness,” said Dr. Charles Chima, the city’s public health director.

“Most big cities in the U.S. have a challenge with homelessness, and as the community grows, it’s not going to go away … while recognizing these are members of our community that need support too.”

In Sioux Falls, “a lot of the worst problems are caused by a very small group of people, and they may be the people who don’t want help,” Councilor Greg Neitzert said. “So what do we do about that?”

There are “never-ending issues,” Thum agreed, while saying a street team provides an opportunity to build a relationship with homeless individuals that law enforcement might struggle to do because of the tension generally involved in their contacts.

“And maybe that’s the time that they can steer them toward resources because trust is built, it’s coming from a different level, and really outside of this, we’re probably not going to get any other results if the police keep trying to steer them toward The Link,” Thum said.

Building relationships can lead to de-escalation and fewer incidents involving law enforcement, he said, while acknowledging “that’s a long haul, and there’s a lot of complexity to that.”

The street team also would provide data about repeat offenders and what percentage of the overall need for services they comprise.

The City Council is scheduled to consider the additional funding beginning next week.

Former Children’s Inn site will house homeless families