Overview

• Mayor Matt Mahan now directs outreach workers to evaluate each unhoused person’s needs rather than trigger automatic trespassing charges after three shelter refusals within 18 months.
• Under the proposal, individuals may face trespassing, drug or weapon charges to facilitate referrals into behavioral health or drug courts or placement at the Mission Street Recovery Center.
• A seven-member outreach team within the Enhanced Engagement Program will build detailed case files and share data with a new police unit of six officers and a sergeant to enforce shelter offers.
• Business leaders and police and firefighters unions support the budget proposal, citing rising calls for service and assaults, as the plan seeks to add 1,400 new shelter beds this year.
• Homeless advocates and retired Judge Richard Loftus contend the initiative criminalizes homelessness and doubt its effectiveness given ongoing bed shortages and treatment barriers.