Homeless Outreach Team Wichita Police Department

Definition of a homeless person: A homeless person is an individual without permanent housing who may live on the streets; stay in a shelter, mission, abandoned building or vehicle; or in any other unstable or non-permanent situation.

Public Outcry Community Vs. Advocates Heavy Unsightly Handed Police Homeless Rights Lack of Shelter Unsightly Unsanitary Fire Hazards Safety Concerns Poor Image _____________________________________________________________ Safeguarding our community as our family

Issues we face and the impact to our community

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Housing First Housing First is one of the few existing programs across the United States with a retention rate greater than 80%. This means that at least four (4) out of every five (5) clients taken into the program remain in a stable living situation. What does this mean for our community? The annual taxpayer cost in Wichita is $54,000 for each chronically homeless individual. These costs accrue from the use of emergency room services, police, court, jail, fire, and ambulance. Clients entering the Housing First Program typically cease to use emergency and crisis services. Bottom line: Taxpayers save $40,000 per year with foreach each individual in the Housing First program! _____________________________________________________________ Safeguarding our community as our family 11

Reuniting with Family Account set up to hold donated funds. We call it our “Finding A Way Home” program. HOT officers will be purchase transportation tickets. _____________________________________________________________ Safeguarding our community as our family

Current Statistics February 2013 - February 2014 Homeless Contacts: 2,654 911/Officer Request: 422 Bus Tickets: 44 Reunited w/ Family 55 Housed: 149 Refusals: 146 Job Referral: 80 Job Placement: 33 _____________________________________________________________ Safeguarding our community as our family

Key Strategies to Building a Successful Program in Wichita Develop and maintain a multi-agency partnership United States Interagency Council on Homelessness stated in 2012 that one of the goals should be for “Collaboration among Law Enforcement and Behavioral Health and Social Service Providers” Ongoing personal contact and trust building between HOT and the homeless Collaborative efforts to transition homeless into housing _____________________________________________________________ Safeguarding our community as our family