The deaths of more homeless residents are being counted this year after local officials implemented a formal process to identify them – the latest symptom of the intensifying conversation around homelessness in Wichita. As of September, 46 homeless people had been confirmed dead by Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center investigators. That’s more than the 42 that were counted all of last year through anecdotal numbers compiled through a collaboration between the Wichita Police Department, service providers and homeless advocates. The shift is the latest move to address homelessness in Wichita, following the opening of a new emergency winter shelter in a former elementary school, which city officials aspire to make a multi-agency campus, and amid talk of a “more aggressive” ordinance to remove homeless encampments.
Source: KLC Journal
