In Sioux Falls, as early as May, the first “street outreach” team will work with the city’s homeless population to connect local organizations that follow intervention models used in Rapid City and metropolitan areas nationwide. You can see.

The street outreach strategy uses teams of trained individuals to identify and interact with vulnerable people within the community to try to get them the help they need, and delegates some of that responsibility to law enforcement. Take away from the institution.

Michaela Saber, CEO of South Dakota Urban Indian Health, said she plans to present the plan to downtown business leaders and hold a public information meeting at her downtown Sioux Falls office.

“The best way to stop all this interaction with law enforcement is to be more involved[with people in need]on the street.”

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The group’s Wo’Okiye Project (“help” in Lakota) started in May with 11 staff, some of whom have experienced homelessness or addiction. They work in the community, “serving as a pipeline and supporting law enforcement agencies responding to low-level calls.”

Funded by a grant from the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge, the pilot program, outlined by the Sioux Falls Homeless Task Force and unanimously approved by the city, allows the City of Sioux Falls to conduct street outreach activities. It is done at the same time as requesting the group’s bids to coordinate. Board meeting in March.

The two-year contract has an annual budget of $250,000 and closes on April 27th for proposals to qualify for the partnership. The city additionally has three he options to extend for one-year terms. The contract was awarded on May 15th and the partnership is expected to start next month.

Seiber confirmed that Urban Indian Health will submit the proposal. Other organizations such as the Union Gospel Mission and Southeastern Behavioral Health were also mentioned as potential candidates during the task force process.

Street Team Highlights Native American Needs

The effort finds among civil servants in Sioux Falls and Rapid City that the causes of homelessness and drug addiction are complex and often conflated with mental health problems, and that getting to the root of the problem is simply a matter of diet. We acknowledge that it may have a more lasting impact than providing Or temporary shelter.

“We’re looking beyond law enforcement responses to a more holistic and personal approach,” said Sioux Falls’ efforts to address homelessness as a public health concern. Vanessa Sweeney, Clinic Services Manager, Falls Community Health, said.

“We’re not just looking at immediate challenges like loitering and panhandling, but what’s the situation that got us to that point.”

The street outreach strategy also addresses the reality that Native Americans make up a disproportionate number of South Dakota’s homeless population, and in some cases, it can be meaningful, especially when police first arrive on the scene. creating cultural and linguistic barriers that hinder certain interventions.

“Law enforcement agencies can be well-equipped and well-trained, but they often start out in a hostile position to the individuals we are dealing with. We want to hear that message,” Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Sam told Newswatch in December 2022.

“People who come from different backgrounds and perspectives and who have the time to build relationships can be the ones who guide them towards positive change.

Homelessness in South Dakota Increases 50% in 5 Years

South Dakota Housing for the Homeless Consortium’s latest homeless count, conducted January 25, 2022, shows the number of homeless individuals. is in a state 1,389, an increase of almost 50% from five years ago (955 in 2017).

of rapid city The count was 458 (up 53% from 2017). Sioux Falls was 407 (up 26%). These figures are generally considered to be underestimated because it is difficult to find and identify homeless people, especially in the dead of winter.

Native Americans, who make up 8.8% of the statewide population, will account for nearly 70% of the state’s homeless population by 2022, including 76% in Rapid City. In Sioux Falls, where 36% of the homeless population is indigenous, according to the count, they are using Rapid City and other communities as a model for “collaborative projects” to find the sources of people’s struggles and focus them on available services. We are working on a response. Ready.

Saiber, who grew up in Siseton and is a member of Siseton Warpeton Oyate, said: “It puts us in a unique position to take on this role.”

With 37 full-time and part-time staff, South Dakota Urban Indian Health shadowed Rapid City’s street outreach organization, Journey On, in the afternoon to visit a site in Pima County, Arizona, to learn more about the crisis. I learned. efforts to cope.

Pilot program on ‘progress not perfection’

The Sioux Falls Task Force’s proposal came in response to an increase in complaints about panhandling on interstate exit ramps and recent developments that have increased concern for the downtown poor.

1st Term City Councilman Rich Merkouris, who chaired the task force, said: “Based on what the Commission has seen, we are still in a less overwhelmed position to start eroding the heart of the community, but people are concerned.”

Thum, who will become police chief in the summer of 2021, said people won’t be arrested for putting up signs demanding money. It becomes more of an issue when they do so on private property or when they step into traffic to ask for or receive cash from drivers.

However, he generally believes that panhandling and public nuisance calls are symptoms of problems that can be addressed with on-the-spot intervention by people living on the streets or trained in social work and cultural outreach. thinking about.

City requests for proposals require a minimum of 30 hours per week. It calls for “proactive intervention coverage in designated areas identified by the city,” during which street outreach staff can “engage with homeless people in a productive and compassionate way.” It is expected. Outreach team members direct people to behavioral health, addiction treatment, or training/development programs as appropriate.

All interactions are recorded in the Helpline Network of Care database. This is an infrastructure system that allows social service agencies to share information with each other.

City officials acknowledged that street assistance programs are likely to evolve over time.

“This is progress, not perfection,” Sweeney said. “All the nuances of where we go are partly determined by the people we are trying to help. What are their needs? In some respects we have to follow their lead in accommodating us enough to help.Sketch that now. It’s hard to do.”

Outreach targets homeless population mental health, drug addiction

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, there are approximately 580,000 homeless people in the United States. Nearly every major city is grappling with the problem in some way, including the recent phenomenon of tent cities and other encampments that provide temporary solutions to those in need.

In South Dakota, there is a growing consensus that preventive measures based on mental health and substance addiction counseling are the best ways to go, and public-private partnerships are enabling a more professional and targeted approach.

Rapid City opened its Care Campus in 2019. This is a ‘one stop shop’ facility offering detox, crisis care and mental health treatments. The Pennington County Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with groups such as Safe Solutions to provide accommodation for intoxicated people who might be turned out at homeless shelters.

Sioux Falls will launch The Link in 2021. This is a community triage center designed to assist people facing non-violent behavioral health crises and substance abuse problems. Providing his 24/7 access to support services through partnerships between the City and Minnehaha County, as well as the Sanford Health and Abella Health Systems.

But as homeless numbers rise, it becomes harder to find staff trained enough to make a difference, putting more pressure on law enforcement. Street outreach strategies involve city governments contracting private groups to work with displaced persons to either gradually integrate them into society or simply protect them from harm.

Street Outreach Affecting Rapid City

Journey On, a nonprofit founded in Rapid City in 2019, seeks to address rising friction between unprotected individuals, mostly Native Americans, and local businesses that are causing conflict with law enforcement I’m doing it.

The organization has 16 team members, all of whom are indigenous and many have experienced homelessness. They took to the streets in his four vans, dressed in signature green apparel, to make connections for public safety.

Calls to Journey On ranged from local businesses notifying drunk people in alleys to pointing out worried residents about mothers and children who weren’t ready to go out in the cold. is.

“We go out into communities every day to identify those who are unprotected or vulnerable,” said Rich Braunstein, Journey On’s outreach director.

“We initiate those contacts. We are not sitting at the station waiting for a call. increase.”

The Sioux Falls Wo’Okiye project follows that basic model while developing its own methods. The concept of street outreach is a work in progress, Seiber acknowledged, adding that the community his leader is working to create an affordable community that will help integrate homeless people into society, rather than simply providing temporary services. Has expressed concern about the lack of affordable housing.

Seiber, who took over as CEO of Urban Indian Health in February 2021, said:

“There are many other resources that are needed. We are excited about this research opportunity, but what comes next? These are questions that still need to be addressed.”

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