The Wichita City Council is scheduled to vote at its Tuesday evening meeting on implementing a city-wide municipal ID program to lower barriers for Wichitans who lack standard documentation for a state-issued ID, such as the homeless. If passed, IDs will be issued at the Multi-Agency Center starting sometime in April. The IDs, also called Air Capital Cards, will display a person’s name, photo, address, date of birth and ID number, making it I-9 compliant to verify an individual’s identity for employment. Lacking ID prevents many homeless people from establishing residency and applying for jobs or housing. It is also harder to apply for benefits, fill prescriptions or open a bank account without any photo identification. Officials committed last May to establishing a municipal ID after Justice Together, a grassroots coalition of interfaith communities in Sedgwick County, lobbied city and county officials on homelessness policies.
Source: KLC Journal
