The City of Lawrence released new details Tuesday about its policy to serve primarily people who are from Douglas County with homelessness resources, and to send others elsewhere. Under the policy, the city provides “non-resident homeless individuals” with short-term assistance and helps them return to their “place of origin,” according to a city news release. Service providers working with the city are expected to follow suit. “We’re not servicing individuals long term that cannot prove that they’re residents, and that’s going to start going into our contracts, because we just don’t have the bandwidth to do that,” Misty Bosch-Hastings, director of the city’s Homeless Solutions Division, said during a meeting last month. The policy has been publicly discussed for at least a month, but the formal announcement of the policy comes a week after the Lawrence City Commission approved putting a question on the ballot to ask Lawrence voters to approve a sales tax to support homelessness services. The majority of people experiencing homelessness who agreed to answer the point-in-time count survey in January reported that they have lived in Lawrence or Douglas County for 12 months or more, according to data from Kristen Egan, Douglas County regional coordinator for the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition. Of the 414 respondents counted in this year’s survey, 289, or 71%, said they’d been in Douglas County for more than 12 months; 51, or 13%, said seven to 12 months; and 69, or 17%, said they’d been here for zero to six months. “Our new policy ensures that we prioritize Douglas County residents while offering short-term support to those from other areas,” Bosch-Hastings said in the city’s release. “By focusing on local needs and providing a pathway for non-residents to return home, we can manage our resources effectively and help more people find stability. This approach reflects our commitment to compassionate, practical solutions for everyone in need.”
Source: The Lawrence Times
